YYC held a very successful job fair on May 23rd at Calgary International Airport (YYC).

We had over 96 potential candidates show up for interviews and orientation, which was quite an experience for all of us.

Kudos to Maria Kalomiris, our HR coordinator, for putting this together, and Elizabeth Warwick, our quality assurance manager, for helping in the interview process. Having that many candidates show up was a challenge with several takeaways to be implemented prior to the next job fair.

Overall, it was fun and a success!

Summer has arrived, and, as usual, our services are in high demand at all locations. Our clients depend on ASP to be prepared to support their facilities with the various services that we provide.

Whether you are working in a security or customer service role, it is important for all of us to complement our clients core businesses and ensure safe, secure and efficient customer focused services.

Throughout the spring, we have been recruiting at all of our locations to make sure that we have the resources available and trained to meet the anticipated demand. Every employee plays a key role in contributing to our success.

I wrote about the importance of teamwork in the last newsletter and I think we have great teams throughout the organization that support each other daily.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for your daily efforts in making ASP a successful service provider.

I hope everyone has some time this summer to enjoy with family and friends.

Work safe and chat soon,

Jim

Bristol Airport has re-appointed ICTS UK & Ireland as its Security partner, responsible for the provision of security services at the Airport.

“We are absolutely delighted to continue our long-standing partnership with Bristol Airport. We have supported the Airport through its business growth and significant expansion during the last few years and celebrate their 2018 record passenger numbers which reached over 8.6 million.

ICTS is fully committed to delivering the very best service to Bristol Airport and its passengers.

We are excited and look forward to this next phase and to being a part of the Airport’s plans to develop the region’s international gateway” said Levent Ural, Director of Operations – Aviation Security Services, ICTS UK & Ireland.

“We are pleased ICTS has been successful in securing the contract for security services at Bristol Airport, continuing the long-standing business partner relationship. It is important to select a business partner that is able to provide the commitment, flexibility and diversity of services an airport requires and ICTS has both the capability and breadth of experience needed to meet this requirement, and we look forward to continuing to develop our relationship with them.” Graeme Gamble, Chief Operating Officer, Bristol Airport

Bristol Airport is one of the 11 Airports in the UK and Ireland at which ICTS provides security services. ICTS is extremely proud of its long-serving partnership with Bristol Airport, which dates back to 2007.

After several months of extensive searching through countless resumes and several interviews, I am happy to announce that the YYC ASP Team is now complete.

In a few weeks, the new members of the Team will be fully trained and ready to participate and add their expertise to the existing group. A stable foundation has been laid out and the Team needs to be proactive and innovative to be successful.

As an ISO certified company, ASP is consistently looking for new ways to improve process with integrated technologies.

With front-line teams in five major Canadian airports, we are collecting enormous amounts of valuable data. This data can not only be used to drive better business for us, but for our clients as well.

We are currently conducting data mapping processes that will allow is to connect data from all ASP’s lines of business. Early in Q3, we plan to work with select clients to develop customized dash boards that illustrate everything, from our front-line team performance to passenger satisfaction and other customized data sets to help improve the way we all serve our customers and the travelling public. We are also looking at technology that will allow us to improve on the security services that we provide through Bluetooth Beacons and other location tracking systems.

Our computer-based training system (CBT) continues to evolve and offers the best in up-to-date, real-time on the job training (OJT) to our front-line teams. This maximizes the time on the floor for our teams and ensures that all employees have the most up-to-date information and training. As technology advances and the customer facing landscape evolves, ASP will continue to be on the forefront of the technology trends and innovations.

ASP takes great pride in our efforts to support client safety initiatives. We recently received the following commendation for one of our CSRs, Fanny Tran, at Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport.

“I’d like to acknowledge Fanny’s safety observation and addressing the unsafe work practice of a ramp employee in the check-in area last week and yesterday. Fanny’s awareness of safety and addressing this is important and commendable.

Thanks for your help.”

At ASP, we take a safety-first approach to everything we do and will continue to support our client operations with vigilant “see it, report it” focus in our day to day work.

The ASP Customer Service Team is tasked with providing world-class customer service to the travelling public at three major international airports in Canada. That is not where our job stops.

In many types of service disruptions, our team has stepped up and assisted where we were not normally required. On Sunday March 17, 2019, an electrical fire filled Toronto Pearson’s Terminal 1 CNX Level with smoke. Our OSR Agents posted in this area not only stayed back to assist, they maintained the safety and security of the airport by updating the passengers as they received information and helped to lead a calm evacuation in a high-stress situation.

Adding to this, one of our OSR Agents, Svitlana Portnova relied on her training as a nurse to assist a passenger with an asthma attack, due to the poor breathing conditions in the area at that time.

Team work and job dedication were paramount in the successful handling of this emergency. Great Work, Team!!!!!

The OSR team at Toronto Pearson does an excellent job each day ensuring that our passengers are treated with exceptional customer service and leave our airport with a great impression.

We have many examples of our team working together and executing flawlessly to deliver an exceptional passenger experience.

Here is a small showcase of some of the written commendations we have received over the last few months:

“We encountered a medical today at the T1 SPIL area during the afternoon peaks. A 14-year-old boy was in serious distress. Two individuals from the OSR team: Carl Lynn Salcedo and Rakesh Bhardwaj responded well to my “demanding” voice, given the situation. They were able to quickly respond, by creating a barrier with stanchions for the family while maintaining movement of the heavy passenger flow trying to stop and view the situation. Carl Lynn was able to locate a doctor in the SPIL queueing at my request in record time… it may have made the difference for this youngster!!” – GTAA Terminal Services Representative

“The operation was flawlessly executed today. Despite heavy Transborder and local connections, OSR Manager Zapata, Jason and OSR Supervisor Matharu, Jasmeet did a fantastic job in ITPC and CBP.”- GTAA Terminal Services Representative

“Ms. Shanna saved my day! Every year I travel to the United Arab Emirates to visit my father in Dubai. I have never missed a holiday with my father. However, this year I almost lost this traditional meeting due to an employee error/oversight made by an airline employee.

Upon my arrival at Toronto International Airport, I proceeded to my next gate, but was quickly advised that I could not go to Dubai because I did not have a Visa. The airline employee insisted that I would have to apply for a Visa in order to proceed with my trip to Dubai. I insisted that this information was not accurate.

The Agent glared at me and told me I don’t specialize in Visa services, and that I should never assume anything. The agent then handed me a piece of paper with the website information and told me to go over there and apply for a Visa online.

I was in shock. I was speechless and in tears. I was asking myself, HOW could I have allowed this to happen? How could I have not known that I needed a Visa for the UAE this year?

In tears, I went to the corner by the kiosks and proceeded to find the website on my cell phone that the airline just gave me.

That’s when two customer service agents through A.S.P. Inc. Security (Ms. Shanna and another young lady) noticed me and immediately came to my rescue.

Ms. Shanna consoled me and assured me that everything would be alright. Ms. Shanna then walked me over to the other side to speak with a different agent through the airline. The other agent apologized for her colleague’s mistake and confirmed that a 30-day Visa is granted upon arrival. The airline agent then proceeded to print my boarding pass and apologized once again for her colleague’s oversight.

Ms. Shanna went above and beyond the call of duty today. If it wasn’t for Ms. Shanna, I would have missed my flight to Dubai to see my Dad.

Most of the time, companies will promise excellent customer service, but often fail to deliver what they promise to the customer, but A.S.P. Inc. fulfilled their promise by providing a positively unforgettable resolution to my dilemma.

Thank you SO much. The initiative Ms. Shanna took today on my behalf was phenomenal. Thank You, A.S.P. Inc.”
– Passenger Remarks

Often small gestures of great service go unnoticed, but it is important to celebrate when the client or passengers go the extra mile and write in to our management to recognize members of our team. We are looking forward to additional excellent interactions and feedback from our passengers and the GTAA!