Mistakes or successes, all become strength – workplace and growth for four of the young administrative employees

I provide information services at information counters and call centers at Kansai International Airport, as well as patrol in the airport and handle lost-and-found items. I also assist international travelers using English and Spanish, which I learned in college.

I am in charge of monitoring aircraft operations and adjusting allocations of parking stands and check-in counters based on delays and arrival statuses. Also, in the event of emergencies, such as bird strikes (※) or emergency landings, I coordinate with relevant departments to provide initial response.

※ Incidents involving birds crashing into aircraft during takeoff, landing, or in flight.

I am involved in planning store launches, renovations, and store layouts in addition to my tasks as a buyer for the confectionery and general merchandise sold at airport duty-free and souvenir shops. I handle the entire operational workflow, from negotiating with manufacturers and selecting products to planning product displays in stores.

As an airline sales representative, I am responsible for the markets of Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau. My duties include efforts to attract new flight routes, as well as promoting “Premium Gate Tamayura”, a dedicated business jet facility located in Terminal 2 at Kansai International Airport.

It was a female customer, who was around my age and traveled alone from Taiwan. She lost her passport soon after her arrival and came to the information counter.

After following every clue one by one and successfully returning it to her, she cried and said, “I am so glad that you were the one in charge.” That was when I strongly felt rewarded for this job.

That is a wonderful story. In the contrast, I will share an episode that gave me a scare. About a month after I started working independently, I received an urgent report: “Smoke is coming from tires of an arriving aircraft.” I had learned about types of incidents that frequently occur in the fields, but “smoke from the tires” was completely unpredictable. My initial response was delayed, being blindsided.

The cause turned out to be an oil leak, but I still remember what my senior colleague said, “Always anticipate the worst-case scenario and make the safest choice”. That failure drastically changed my awareness of safety.

I am responsible for selecting merchandises sold at three airports in the Kansai region -Kansai International Airport, Osaka Itami Airport and Kobe Airport. The key to effective product selection is to maintain a keen sensitivity, an “antenna” to the demographics and trends of the customers who visit these airports.

Last year, we focused on increase in the number of visitors from South Korea, and expanded our product lineup for their needs, which led to a large increase in sales. When we were able to confirm these results through the numbers, we felt huge success and accomplishment.

A memorable event for me is from when I was in charge of an event celebrating an airline’s new route launch. I handled preliminary coordination working closely with my senior coworkers, then on the day of the event, I mainly handled on-site operations, including negotiations with the airline and guiding VIP guests, as the one in charge of Southeast Asia area.

The experience of arriving on-site at 5:30 AM, collaborating with many stakeholders and successfully finishing an event has given me confidence.

We have a strong culture of mutual support within the team -when there is something I do not understand, my senior coworkers would help quickly. You need comprehensive knowledge of the entire airport for the work at the information counter, but it is difficult to handle perfectly in your first year, so you would rely on the support from the surroundings daily.

I agree that we have a ‘strong culture of mutual support within the team.’ Before starting with the company, I imagined that it would be a very formal workplace because it was an infrastructure company, but it was actually very friendly. My supervisors are easy to talk to, and my senior coworkers create atmospheres where I feel comfortable consulting them about anything.

Kansai Airports Retail & Services, the company I work for, also has that friendly atmosphere. In addition, a distinctive part of Kansai Airports Group is its rich international character, with employees with wide range of nationalities and backgrounds.

The closeness to executives and management is an attraction as well. If you have any questions, you can feel free to drop by the executive offices, and they would always listen to you with smiles.

As for the benefit, an environment is established where we can easily benefit such as leave policies and flextime. 23 days of paid leave per year are given starting with the first year, and it is encouraged to take vacation days for five consecutive days off.

Since I work at a general operations center that operates 24 hours a day, I would have early-morning and night shifts, but it is very easy to take time off. I believe this is a good part that our group companies have as well.

During my first year, I was so focused on learning that I tended to be passive, but I would like to be able to make proactive adjustments in the second year.

Also, for the challenge of labor shortages, I would like to leverage technology to build systems that can maintain safe and comfortable environments. It would be great if more coworkers join to address these challenges together.

In the future, I would like to strengthen my collaboration with manufacturers and try learning development of airport-exclusive products.

During my job hunt, with the desire to “work at KIX,” I applied to Kansai International Airport’s affiliates only. By applying to a wide range of affiliates including group companies, I was able to find out the job I truly wanted to do. I hope that the students will be able to keep their own core values and, find their clear vision through job hunting as well.

I focused my job search on aviation industry as well. It is very competitive field, but if you can clearly show your reasons for applying and your passion in your own words, the company would accept your passion.

Moving forward, I would like to keep trying new things to work in a field where I can take advantage of my English skills. Although I still feel that my language skills are not sufficient, I would like to change those feelings to positive motivation and grow with more experience in the field.

In airport operations, it is important to constantly absorb new knowledge. This workplace has an environment with many professionals where we can inspire one another as a team. I, myself, would like to further expand my knowledge of information services and brush up my skills so that I can handle any inquiry.