notified that PNE is now Pennsylvania’s fourth busiest airport for air traffic (up from sixth), following PHL, PIT and LAN. This is even with a 10-day closure last year while runway 6-24 renovations were being completed. Congratulations to the PNE team, led by Airport Operations Manager John Brewer, on this accomplishment.

If you were at PHL during the recent holidays, you noticed the terminals were extremely active, especially with the restart of service to several transatlantic destinations. The relaunch of the international routes is a major turning point, not only the in airport’s, but also the aviation industry’s, COVID-19 recovery.

As the spring break period was ending, we reached another pandemic-related milestone—the lifting of Federal and City of Philadelphia mandates that required facial coverings be worn in transportation centers, on vehicles and airplanes and in indoor settings in the City. For the first time in almost two years, face masks are not mandatory—but strongly recommended—in the airport.

When the emergency order necessitating face coverings in the airport was enacted on May 8, 2020, I don’t think anyone believed masks would still be a part of everyday life in 2022. But, as we’ve learned repeatedly since March 2020, the coronavirus is anything but predictable and a global pandemic will not follow a timeline. Thank you all for your patience over these past two years as we worked through recommendations, mandates and schedules that were fluid and changed frequently. While we are still in recovery mode, we are hopeful that recent developments will help restore a sense of normalcy.

The upcoming summer season will be a major test for PHL and our partners. The demand for air travel is reaching pre-pandemic levels, while staffing is a challenge for airlines and airports around the world. We continue to work to hire staff to fill key vacancies throughout our organization that will help us meet the returning demand.

Thank you again for everything you do for our passengers and the Division of Aviation every day.

Chellie

May is Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May is Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. The Division of Aviation's The Division of Aviation’s Racial Equity Advisory Council (REAC) will celebrate by focusing on the contributions of individuals from the following cultures: 

• Central Asians: Afghani, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgians, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Mongolian, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek.
• East Asians: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Okinawan, Taiwanese, Tibetan.
• Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (in the U.S. Jurisdictions & Territories): Carolinian, Chamorro, Chuukese, Fijian, Guamanian, Hawaiian, Kosraean, Marshallesse, Native Hawaiian, Niuean, Palauan, Pohnpeian, Papua New Guinean, Samoan, Tokelauan, Tongan, Yapese.
• Southeast Asians: Bruneian, Burmese, Cambodian, Filipino, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Mien, Singaporean, Timorese, Thai, Vietnamese.
• South Asians: Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Indian, Maldivians, Nepali, Pakistani, Sri Lankan.
• Middle East: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Please visit phl.org/aapi2022 throughout the month of May for updates on special programs for all Division of Aviation staff.

HR Updates

Reminder: Financial Disclosure deadline is TODAY, May 2, 2022!

Good news — you can complete the State Form at financial-disclosure.phila.gov! Do not file using the State's website. Need login help? Email [email protected].

The online system will provide instructions as you complete each section. See the State's long form instructions and preview the State Form here.

Upcoming City Resource Group Meetings

City Resource groups are designed to ultimately make the City of Philadelphia a more inclusive place to work. All City Resource Groups must align with the three focus areas outlined in the City Resource Group Policy and Procedure Document. These focus areas include:

1. Networking: Allowing City employees an opportunity to interact with one another
2. Talent Development: Creating opportunities for City employees to provide talent development to members
3. Enhance Diversity & Inclusion Strategies and Initiatives: City Resource Groups must produce at least one annual initiative or strategy that focuses on building a more diverse and inclusive City of Philadelphia workforce.

If you are interested in participating or leading a Resource Group at PHL/PNE, email your ideas to [email protected]. Must have five people and a leader to implement.

Rework Reminders

Effective April 25, 2022, all employees and members of the public entering City buildings are strongly recommended to wear masks indoors, in accordance with the Health Department’s guidance; however, it will only be a requirement to wear mask in the following situations described below.

Masks will still be required for City employees regardless of vaccination status in certain high-risk settings. Those include the following:

• Healthcare settings (for example, City health centers or when providing medical care, regardless of the location).
• Congregate settings (for example, City prisons and homeless shelters).
• Entering a residence (for example, an EMT or social worker entering someone’s home).
• Driving in a City vehicle when more than one employee is present.
• All unvaccinated employees are still required to double-mask or wear an N95 or equivalent as well as participate in weekly testing.

In addition to masking, it’s important to continue to practice the following safety measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by:

1. Checking for symptoms daily by completing the employee COVID symptom screener. 
2. Staying home when you are sick, if you’ve tested positive for COVID, or have been exposed to COVID.  
3. Handwashing frequently.  

COVID-19 reporting and quarantine protocols remain unchanged and still apply. Employees must email HR Safety at [email protected] to report any COVID-19 exposures, self-quarantines, and any related questions/concerns.

Communicating – as we have throughout the pandemic, we will continue to update you on the current situation and our related safety measures.

May Calendar - Training and Development

Thurs-yay Water Cooler Conversations

Play a modern, online-friendly version of “Guess Who!”

May 26 Noon – 12:30 PM

Link to Join

May is Mental Health awareness month!

Mental health is as important as physical health when caring for your overall well-being. Your mental health determines how you think, feel, and act — and it affects your physical health, too. The following information and resources can help you understand common mental health topics and learn ways to protect your overall well-being.

• Mental Health Overview
• Depression
• Managing Stress
• Suicide Prevention

Spring Virtual Wellness Series

Mental Health 101

Date: May 12, 2022

Time: 1 PM

To Join by Computer:

1. Visit: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84766465512?pwd=eW5YWlZyczFJNG56NXhKR21nWjY0dz09
2. Enter: Meeting ID: 847 6646 5512
3. Enter Passcode: 754685

To Join by Phone:

1. Dial: 929 205 6099
2. Enter Meeting ID: 847 6646 5512
3. Enter Passcode: 754685

Stress Management

Date: May 26, 2022

Time: 1 PM

To Join by Computer:

1. Visit: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84441303199?pwd=WkpXdjVsYXF5MjEyNTBvL2hMakdjUT09
2. Enter Meeting ID: 844 4130 3199
3. Enter Passcode: 024439

To Join by Phone:

1. Dial: 929 205 6099 US (New York)
2. Enter Meeting ID: 844 4130 3199
3. Enter Passcode: 024439

Congratulations to our Biggest Loser Winners

Congratulations to the 15 DOA employees who participated in PHL Well's Biggest Loser challenge! In total, the group lost 36.8 pounds. And the winners are: 

1st Place: MAE MITHCELL, PAU

2nd Place: DAVID SALINDONG, OPERATIONS

3rd Place:GLORIA MCNEIL, HR

To receive notification of employee updates directly to your phone, email [email protected] with your email and/or cell phone number. 

Staff Promotions 

Congratulations to all Division of Aviation employees who were promoted in the Month of April:

Erin Smith and Yaritza Alicea — Clerk 3

Mario Robinson — Custodial Crew Chief

New Hires

Welcome all Division of Aviation employees who were hired in the month of April: 

Camille Cawley-Donaldson — Account Clerk, Finance

Divanny Mejia de Jesus — Bilingual Receptionist, Passenger Assistance

Sanchez Justice — Procurement Technician Supervisor, PAU

2021 Reports Now Available Online

The Division of Aviation’s 2021 Annual Report and 2021 Sustainability Annual Report are now available online.

The annual report, Connecting Point, highlights the Division of Aviation’s accomplishments last year as the aviation industry continued its COVID-19 recovery. The report also includes the Division of Aviation’s financial summary for 2021.

The 2021 Sustainability Report updates the DOA’s accomplishments since the release of the 2019 Environmental Progress Report and details current and upcoming projects.

Information Security Update

May 5th is World Password Day!

Passwords are like keys to your personal online home. The same way you would protect the keys to your house or car, it is important do everything you can to protect your online passwords and accounts. Follow these tips for ways to improve your online passwords.

Passphrases

Passphrases can be inconvenient, but they’re important if you want to keep your information safe. Here are some simple ways to secure your accounts through better passphrase practices.

• Make your passphrase a sentence: A strong passphrase is a sentence that is at least 12 characters long. Focus on positive sentences or phrases that you like to think about and are easy to remember and include numbers and special characters. On many sites, you can even use spaces.
• Unique account, unique passphrase: Having separate passphrases for every account helps to thwart cybercriminals. At a minimum, separate your work and personal accounts and make sure that your critical accounts have the strongest passphrases.
• Use a password manager: Password managers store login credentials so you don’t have to remember your unique passphrases for every site. Many will also generate strong passphrases for you.

Multi-Factor Authentication

Your usernames and passphrases are not enough to protect key accounts like email, banking and social media. Multi-factor authentication, also called two-factor authentication or MFA, is a security feature that allows you to use two types of credentials when logging in to an account.

Multi-factor authentication can help fortify your online accounts by enabling the strongest authentication tools available, such as biometrics, security keys or a unique one-time code through an app on your mobile device.

Many email services offer strong authentication on an opt-in basis. Ask your financial institution, email provider and other online services if they offer strong authentication or additional ways to verify your identity.

For more information on securing your online accounts and other best cybersecurity practices, visit the National Cybersecurity Alliance website here.

Marketplace PHL Updates

Coming Soon:

PHL Food & Shops retail merchants will have promotional tables outside of retail locations in the B/C and D/E connector to highlight deals, discounts, and promos for the spring/summer season.

Upcoming Concession Openings:

Look forward to Bruegger’s Bagels and the Duty-Free location in A-West, both slated to open in May.

Also scheduled to open in the coming months are Beauty on the Fly in the D/E connector, Desigual in Terminal A-West and Chick-fil-A in Terminal E. These are vendors are under currently under construction and will open in the coming months.

Earth Day Events

Employees celebrated Earth Day with several fun and educational events, as well as a recycling bin giveaway, hosting by the Capital Development’s Sustainability team. Special thanks to CH Planning for their help in coordinating Earth Day events and The City of Philadelphia Streets Department for providing recycling bins. For more about PHL’s sustainability programs, check out the recently published 2021 Sustainability Annual Report. 

The Latest from PHL’s Online Newsroom

At the Airport

PHL Announces Additional On-Site Parking Availability 

A portion of PHL's Economy Parking Lot reopened on April 21, offering passengers with a limited number of onsite parking spaces. The 1,850 spaces are accessible via the parking lot’s Island Avenue entrance. Parking is available on a first come, first served basis. Shuttle buses will drop off and pick up passengers at all PHL terminals. 

Philadelphia International Airport’s Volunteer Team is Looking for a Few Good People

Philadelphia International Airport’s (PHL) Volunteer Navigator team, managed by Christine Datesman of Traveler’s Aid, includes former airline and airport employees, local retirees, students, and airport aficionados who are tasked with answering travelers’ questions about PHL and directing them to locations and services within the airport.

PHL Celebrates Transatlantic Service with Special Keepsakes

The launch of the airlines’ summer schedules on March 26 marked the return of several American Airlines’ transatlantic routes at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) for the first time since 2020. Artists who have been featured in the PHL Airport Art Program helped the airport commemorate the flights with special keepsake pins for passengers and flight crew members/

Making Meals for the Military: Caring for Friends Partners with the USO

Caring for Friends is a free home meal provider and food bank serving the five-county Greater Philadelphia area. The organization also helps Liberty USO at PHL provide meals for visiting military men and women and their families. To learn more, click here.

Shopping and Dinning

MarketPlace PHL Continues Partnership with Philabundance

For the past three years, MarketPlace PHL and OTG management have donated food to Philabundance, a non-profit hunger relief organization that serves the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley region. In 2021, the merchants donated nearly 17,000 pounds of food, bringing the three year total to more than 67,600 pounds of food. 

Restauranteurs and Retailers Invited to Lease Outreach Webinar

Marketplace PHL will host a one-hour leasing outreach webinar on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at 11a.m. Restauranteurs and retailers, including automated (vending) retailers and quick service food operators, are invited to learn about the airport concession leasing

Operations and Security

TSA Mandates Rap Back Check for Airport Workers Nationwide

Airports across the country have been mandated by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to implement Rap Back, a continuous search and reporting system of arrests and convictions through the FBI. By providing daily updates on fingerprints on file, Rap Back is expected to close the loopholes that exist between the hiring process and a felonious encounter with the authorities. 

People at PHL

Check out the latest PHL Employee Recognition Award recipient: 

PHL Impression Makers: Baba Bar’s Bartender Muzzem “Kofil” Hussain

Muzzem “Kofil” Hussain, a bartender at OTG restaurant Baba Bar recently received the “Impression Makers” award in Philadelphia International Airport’s (PHL) Employee Recognition Program. This award recognizes customer-facing employees who provide direct customer service to passengers.