SINGAPORE. Changi Airport Group yesterday hosted the Annual Airport Celebration awards ceremony to honour its employees and airport partners for their contributions to service excellence.
The airport company paid tribute to individuals who “personify the core values of the Changi Service DNA, having gone above and beyond to uplift passenger experience”.
A total of 21 winners, along with a distinguished partner organisation, received awards across five categories. These include Service Personality of the Year, Service Partner of the Year, Outstanding Service Staff of the Year, Outstanding Custodial Staff of the Year, and Outstanding Service Team of the Year.
Singapore Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat presented the top awards.
The awards shine a spotlight on those who went above and beyond their regular duties, and who have demonstrated initiative, resourcefulness, care and creativity in handling challenging situations.
The winners were selected through appreciation and feedback from passengers, reflecting their impact on the Changi service experience.
An extraordinary act of compassion
This year’s top winner was Certis Aviation Security’s Service Operations Executive Haresh S/O Chandran, who was recognised with the Service Personality of the Year award for his “exceptional care and compassion”.
On 22 December 2022, Haresh responded to an urgent call about an elderly passenger who had fallen at the airport. He accompanied the injured traveller and her husband to the airport clinic. Upon learning that the patient needed further medical assistance, he immediately called for an ambulance to transfer her to a hospital and informed the airline about the situation.
After the incident, Haresh extended his support to the passenger by regularly visiting her at the hospital, arranging accommodation for the husband’s extended stay and repairing his mobile device.
Haresh also celebrated Christmas with the couple, who had no friends or relatives to spend the holiday with.
To help them prepare for their departure, Haresh arranged special assistance for the couple during their flight.
Haresh’s commitment to helping people was shaped by his challenges with dyslexia and inspired by the support from his loved ones and mentors.
A transformative journey in elevating quality service
This year’s Service Partner of the Year was awarded to HR solutions provider P-Serv for “nurturing a versatile workforce while harnessing technology to elevate staff productivity and deliver enhanced value to passengers”.
P-Serv was recognised for being able to deliver quality service even as it operated with a lean staff, compared to the pre-pandemic period.
During the COVID-19 crisis, the company partnered with Changi Airport to ensure an enhanced passenger experience and operational efficiency.
Despite the lack of workers during the pandemic, the company maximised its resources by introducing the Virtual Changi Experience Agent services and Chatbot Max, offering contactless yet personalised assistance. These services expanded passenger outreach by nearly 40%, Changi Airport noted.
As travel demand returned, P-Serv played a key role in implementing Integrated Customer Care (ICC), seamlessly integrating customer handling functions. This increased productivity by +30%, despite the shortage of staff.
While training staff for ICC deployment, P-Serv expanded multilingual support services to over 20 languages to provide a “home away from home” experience for passengers.
In addition, the company offers complimentary knowledge training and mentorship with the reintroduction of the Changi Service Ambassador (CSA) volunteer programme, promoting collaboration between CSAs and CEAs.
P-Serv has closely coordinated with Changi Airport over the years to innovate service delivery.
According to Changi Airport, these innovations not only preserve the personal touch in service but also enable P-Serv to expand its capabilities, upskill its staff and efficiently serve more passengers through advanced digital platforms.
Complete list of winners:
Service Personality of the Year: Haresh S/O Chandran, Certis Aviation Security Service Operations Executive
Service Partner of the Year: P-Serv Pte Ltd
Outstanding Service Staff (Gold): Sky Tan, P-Serv Pte Ltd Project Executive; Le Huynh Thien (Kim), P-Serv Pte Ltd Changi Service Ambassador
Outstanding Service Staff (Silver): Cepillo John Eric Atienza, P-Serv Pte Ltd Changi Experience Executive; Fatin Nur Zianna, The Shilla Duty Free (now under Coty) Retail Associate; Lee Chen Yu, Certis Aviation Security Experience Executive; Priya D/O Sures, Certis Aviation Security Service Operations Executive
Outstanding Service Staff (Bronze): Quitain Ma Katrina Pilar Setias, P-Serv Changi Experience Supervisor; Sarojini Naidu A/P Parthiban, Certis Aviation Security Jewel Ranger; Karen Phua, SATS Ltd Duty Manager; Jimson Crisostomo Castro, ABR Holdings Ltd Senior Restaurant Manager
Outstanding Custodial Staff (Gold): Gobinathan A/L Subramaniam, Former LS2 Services Cleaning Supervisor and now Lotte Travel Retail Product Service Assistant
Outstanding Custodial Staff (Silver): Tan Boon Leng (Leo), Smarte Carte Singapore Trolley Service Officer
Outstanding Custodial Staff (Bronze): Kartiga Jayabalan, Woodlands Transport Service Ground Transport Concierge; Mohamed Isa Bin Abdul Subahan, Smarte Carte Singapore Trolley Service Officer
Outstanding Service Team: Michelle Lim, Jewel Changi Airport Assistant Manager; Vedamuthu Rex Kulandairaj, JP Foodservice Senior Restaurant Manager; Muhammad Noor Hidayat (Ryan), AC Kafe Senior Barista; Muhammad Azizul Bin Akhmad, Certis Aviation Security Jewel Experience Manager; Lim Wei Xiang, Certis Aviation Security Security Specialist; Muhammad Fairuz Bin Sa’at, Smarte Carte Singapore Team Leader; Siti Khatijah Binte Ismail, Smarte Carte Singapore Team Leader; Wong Chanel, Changi Airport Group Duty Terminal Manager; Tan Hua Yong James, Changi Airport Group Duty Terminal Manager; Bian Huiyang (Ivan), P-Serv Pte Ltd Changi Experience Ambassador; Harun Rahamad, P-Serv Pte Ltd Changi Experience Ambassador; Mohd Suraidi Bin Puasa, Sergent Services Supervisor; Imamhambali Bin Ibnu Hajar, Sergent Services Supervisor; Iberahim Bin Mohamed, Sergent Services Supervisor; Tay Kian Heng, Sergent Services Housekeeping Officer; Regina Yeo Man Si, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority Deputy Team Leader; Harpreet Singh S/O Kiannan Singh, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority Deputy Team Leader; Haslam Yau Shah Rizal Yau, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority Team Leader. ✈
