Meridian
Andrea Politis, one of our longtime Customer Service Representatives, took a moment today to celebrate her tenure at Meridian with colleagues and friends. Andrea will be joining the Short Hills Aviation team, one of our longtime customers, as their Charter Coordinator. She will be responsible for the scheduling and dispatching of the company’s fleet. We wish you the best of luck in your new position Andrea!
Meridian, the award-winning private aviation company, is pleased to announce that it has again received recognition as one of the nation’s top FBOs in the industry’s leading surveys. The company’s Fixed Base Operator (FBO) in Teterboro (TEB) was voted in the top 5% of all US FBOs, as well as the #1 FBO in the Northeast and at TEB, by readers of Aviation International News (AIN) in its annual FBO survey. For the second year in a row, Meridian was the airport’s only FBO to rank in the top 5% of the AIN survey. The rankings are a result of customer feedback on facilities, passenger amenities, pilot amenities, line service and customer service representatives (CSRs), which are averaged to reach the FBOs’ final scores.
Meridian was also recognized as a top FBO by Professional Pilot’s (ProPilot) annual PRASE Survey. In addition to being rated one of the best independent FBOs in the country, the PRASE Survey ranked Meridian as the #1 FBO at TEB, the NYC Metro area and the Northeast. The survey once again recognized two of Meridian’s CSRs as among the best in the nation. For the 14th year in a row, Betsy Wines and Victor Seda have both been ranked in the top 5 for their “can-do attitude” and their strong commitment to excellence. Meridian is also proud to acknowledge that Betsy has been the #1 CSR in the PRASE Survey 19 times. AIN also quoted Betsy in a feature called Advice from CSR All Stars for her view on what makes a good customer service representative.
“Every member of our team, from Line Service to Security to our CSRs, is committed to delivering excellence each and every day,” said Steve Chandoha, Meridian Teterboro President. “Our people are the difference and I think our customers value that. I’m very proud of Betsy and Victor and the entire staff at Meridian Teterboro.”
“We sincerely thank our customers for their support and confidence in us,” said Ken Forester, Meridian’s CEO. “We know customers have options when flying into Teterboro, and I am proud of the entire team who make every pilot and passenger feel welcomed. We look forward to continuing to serve you for many years to come. We are committed to safe and healthy operations during this challenging time and have enhanced our procedures and implemented strict precautions at our facilities and onboard aircraft. Meridian is here for you and we continue to support our customers.”
On August 19, Meridian celebrated Victor Seda’s 20-year anniversary with the company. Victor joined Meridian as a Customer Service Representative (CSR) in 1999. In 2008, he was promoted to Customer Service Manager and now supervises a staff of 22 colleagues.
Over the years, Victor has received numerous accolades for his outstanding customer service. He has consistently been ranked in the top of this category by Professional Pilot (ProPilot) Magazine in its annual PRASE Survey. Joining him in this honor is our own Betsy Wines. Together, both of them have been named among the top five CSRs in the country by ProPilot for the last 12 years!
Victor came to Meridian from the restaurant industry. He says he loves aviation and really loves working at Meridian. “Working here is awesome,’ he says. “Everyone is like family and I look forward to coming to work every day.”
Victor says he really enjoys the interaction he has with people in his job. It can be very busy at times, and he says that’s what he really enjoys. “I like being at the front desk and dealing with our customers. There’s always something different going on and I am certainly never bored!”
Meridian is incredibly proud of Victor, and all our dedicated Customer Service staff. We’re so glad for your long tenure here and all of the years you have represented Meridian.
Congratulations Victor!
On Friday, July 12, Meridian hosted a cookout in appreciation of all of its employees. The barbecue was held in three shifts so that everyone had the opportunity to enjoy the food and festivities.
The barbecue featured all the traditional fare: burgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, as well as potato salad, chips and other side dishes. Meridian CEO Ken Forester was present for every shift to ensure that he could personally thank everyone for their hard work. The company went as far as having two cakes so that each shift had the chance to enjoy a slice.
With almost 200 attendees, the day was a tremendous success. “It’s a great opportunity for everyone to take some time to relax and enjoy the day with their coworkers,” said Steve Chandoha, President of Meridian Teterboro. “This event gets better with every year, and we look forward to hosting it again next year.”
On Friday, April 12, Meridian sent four representatives to share their experiences and promote the diverse opportunities within the aviation field.
Line Service Manager Nehemias Camacho spoke of the role of the Line Service Technician, as well as the Customer Service Representative. He painted a picture of the day-to-day of both positions and spoke of the unique skill sets these positions build.
Emil Iannone, Director of Operations, stressed the diversity of career paths within the Dispatch, Customer Assurance and Sales positions. Emil spoke on the many different factors in ensuring that each flight goes according to plan, and how each role contributes to the flight’s success.
Celine Martinez and Matthew Barclay spoke about the aviation-specific aspects of their roles within Human Resources and Marketing, respectively, and how the industry needs business employees as well as aviation-specific ones.
For the past few years, it has been the goal of the business aviation industry to attract youth into the aviation field. Meridian has and will continue to reach out to our local community to welcome the next generation into the industry.
On Tuesday, March 19, Meridian hosted students from the North Bergen High School STEM Academy, a preparatory school for students pursuing careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields.
Students learned about the many facets of business aviation and FBO operations, and the various factors involved to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Many students were surprised to learn how much was involved in business aviation. Our VP of Jet Maintenance, John Langshultz, gave an overview of jet maintenance and spoke about how diverse our jet mechanics’ skillset must be in order to keep a jet flying.
The students were also given a tour of our Teterboro FBO and met with our CEO, Ken Forester. The Academy told us that they thought very highly of the tour and felt the trip to Teterboro was among their most exciting. We hope that we’ve sparked an interest in the Business Aviation industry, and hope to see them again in the future!
