Meridian, the award-winning private aviation company, is pleased to welcome Nehemias Camacho as Director of Ground Operations. “Camacho”, as he is commonly called by his colleagues and friends, assumed the newly-created position on July 26.
Camacho, who most recently served as a Manager of Ramp Services at United Airlines, spent 21 years with Meridian, primarily as Line Services Manager. Camacho joined United in early 2020 in what he calls “a rare opportunity to experience the commercial side of the aviation industry.”
“We are delighted to welcome Camacho back to Meridian,” said Steve Chandoha, Meridian President. “The experience he gained at United, coupled with his knowledge, skills and previous tenure at Meridian, complements the expertise he brings to this new position. This is especially relevant as we strive to deliver the best possible FBO experience.”
Last year, Meridian made the strategic decision to realign its business units to focus exclusively on its core FBO business. Meridian currently has two world-class FBOs that continue the company’s long legacy of excellence and outstanding customer service.
As Director of Ground Operations at Meridian Teterboro, Camacho has overall responsibility for the departments of Line Service, Security, Ground Service Equipment and Detailing. As the company continues to experience an uptick in business and growth, his role will be expanding.
“It’s really great being back at Meridian,” said Camacho. “Returning to the company was seamless in some ways, but in other ways, it’s very different with the added responsibilities of my new position. One thing that has remained the same is the feeling of being with family that working at Meridian gives you.
“I made the decision to join United because it was an opportunity to learn something new,” Camacho continued. “I definitely learned some things that I had not been exposed to in business aviation, and at the same time, there were skills I learned at Meridian that I was able to implement at United. I feel that I made an impact with United’s leadership team while also improving the relationship between frontline employees and leaders. Motivating others to provide the best service to every customer made me realize how much I appreciated Meridian and what it stands for.”
“These are exciting times for Meridian,” added Chandoha. “Along with Camacho and the rest of the Meridian team, we will continue to do what we do best – put every customer first.”
Category: Line Service
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.”
Over the summer, Meridian had four summer interns working in various departments throughout the company. What began as an informal opportunity in 1984 for some of our employees’ children to gain some work experience during the summer, has continued to be a popular program with many of our interns returning year after year. Some have even gone on to work full-time for Meridian. For example, Dennis O’Connell, Meridian Air Charter’s President, was Meridian’s first summer intern, working for line service. He recently celebrated 30 years with Meridian.
This year, the interns worked in the Charter, Human Resources, and Customer Service departments and performed their jobs admirably while learning vital skills in Microsoft Excel, customer relations, and business aviation in general. Aside from gaining valuable office experience, the interns learned about the interviewing and hiring process, as well as what to look for in companies and positions when they begin their job search.
This year, we’ve also expanded the program to our Hayward FBO. Samantha Martinez, who rotated between ramp and customer service roles, is Hayward’s first-ever intern!
Samantha learned important customer-relations skills and had the opportunity to get hands-on experience working on the ramp. By the end of her internship, she was given a unique opportunity into learning what makes an FBO run, and the skills to help it run smoothly.
All-in-all, this year’s summer internship program was a tremendous success! We’d like to thank our interns for their hard work, and a job well done!
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.
