Despite their best efforts to add brand-name shops, fine dining, and even live music venues, airports just aren't places we would visit for fun. But there’s a very special group that chooses to spend its free time doing just that: hanging out at the airport waiting to help stranded, jet-lagged, and generally irate passengers.
Jamie Larounis is one of these men. Just a year ago he enrolled in Travelers Aid, a nonprofit group that lends a helping hand in airports across the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Based at Washington Dulles International, he’s one of more than 2,000 volunteers in 24 transportation centers who dons a blue vest and comes to the aid of the tired, the bewildered, the huddled masses who feel lost amid the chaos of a busy international airport.
"Tonight, I helped four passengers get home to South Africa,” Larounis tells Condé Nast Traveler. “Their United flight from Chicago was delayed, so they missed their South African Airways flight, and the check-in counters were closed, leaving them stranded. I called United, booked them on a new flight through London—for free—and got them on their way. They were so grateful."
If this seems magical, know that Larounis, like many of his colleagues, is far from your average volunteer: He’s an airline expert who runs the site The Forward Cabin, a regular presenter at the New York Times Travel Show, and an organizer of the "Frequent Traveler University" travel conferences. He just so happens to have some free time and enjoys helping people who share his passion for travel. There are volunteers like him all around the country.
Traveler’s Aid volunteers come from all ages and walks of life: retired people, former pilots, travel geeks, young professionals, even high school students, all taking less-than-glamorous shifts at their local airport—because they want to. They help travelers with everything from finding the nearest Starbucks or navigating local ride sharing services to thinking "on the fly" to rescue travel plans gone awry. Ryan Ewing is another D.C.-area Travelers Aid volunteer, who enrolled with the group in seventh grade. Now in high school, he still helps passengers in his free time and manages the aviation news website AirlineGeeks.com.
"Recently, a carrier had overbooked a flight and an unaccompanied minor got bumped,” says Ewing. “Her parents were 30 minutes away and she was freaking out being stuck in the airport without anyone she knew. We had someone meet her at the gate and stay with her near the info desk until she could meet her parents.”
As airlines continue to disconnect from their customers, this army of blue vests has taken on an increasingly necessary role, helping millions of travelers each year, every day. So, next time you're jetting your way through the airport and see a volunteer with a blue Travelers Aid vest, take a minute say thank you. You never know when you’ll need their help, too.