The airport angel
For staff at Pearson International Airport, the tearful reunions, lingering embraces and passengers rushing to catch homebound flights with presents in tow are a touching sight during the holiday.
“It’s very . . . electrifying,” says Maria Di Nuzzo-Lewicki, pausing to find the perfect word to describe Pearson in Christmas mode.
Di Nuzzo-Lewicki, a passenger services representative with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, has done a Christmas Day shift for the past two years.
Di Nuzzo-Lewicki is the person you go to for help in finding your checkin or to answer questions about service delays.
She can also assist you with a marriage proposal.
In early December, Di Nuzzo-Lewicki had a holiday hero moment when she helped a man propose to his girlfriend, who was arriving from New Zealand. “He was extremely nervous, but he wanted to sing a song to her, too,” Di Nuzzo-Lewicki said. She helped him calm down and practise the song, which he later belted out over the airport PA system, accompanied by a crowd of curious passengers. “She was brought to tears,” says Di Nuzzo-Lewicki of the man’s girlfriend. “She said yes, and he was so happy. They were both so appreciative.”
About 2.7 million passengers are expected to travel through the airport between Dec. 17 and Jan. 7, dur- ing the peak holiday travel period.
Though the summer is the busiest season for travel, emotions are heightened during the holidays, Di Nuzzo-Lewicki says. “The reunions are happy celebrations — laughter, hugs, kisses. It’s somewhere where you want to be. It just brings on that smile from ear to ear.”
Departures are harder to watch. “They’re sad, they’re tearful, they (so) move me that I start tearing up so I have to start looking away because they’re just so emotional.”
But heavy hearts lift quickly for airport staff thanks to the bright holiday atmosphere and camaraderie.
“And this is what it’s all about,” Di Nuzzo-Lewicki says. “It’s all of us pulling together as a team and making passengers happy people.”