TULSA, Okla. — Fine Airport Parking strives to be more than just a place travelers can leave their cars ahead of a trip. All a customer has to do is follow a shuttle to an open parking space.
Although they do park cars, the team takes care of customers from the second they pull through the gates to their last step off the shuttle. Drivers lead cars to open spots, unloads and loads bags for them and take them from the shuttle bus to the departure doors.
“We like to say that we’re not a parking facility, we’re a customer experience facility that happens to park cars,” said Nathan Keylon, Director of Training and Development. “Our mission statement mentions easing the burdens of travelers. Traveling can be hard on some folks, especially with the families, extra bags, the delays of flights and things like that, and we really want to thrive on giving that respite either before or after the flight where customers can feel welcome.”
Additional shuttle drivers and valet staff were brought in to make this busy travel week easier for those heading home or out of town for the holidays.
"This week is starting to build up, were expecting that Christmas rush to hit starting today, the next few days and over the weekend," said Keylon. "People flying out, getting ready to go see family all across the country so we’ve got our staffing really built up, prepared for all of that."
There are usually two valet attendings - this week they have five. While that may not seem like a lot, all 70 employees are trained in every job and know to step in when needed.
"We really just want that customer experience, and we feel with the influx of customers coming in, it’s better to have those extra hands here," said Keylon. "The team is really ready to take care of those customers. If it’s two valets per car, then great, we can help get luggage out, were helping the families because we have a lot of car seats and strollers and things coming out, a little more luggage this time of year, so we’ve got extra hands here to help take care of those."
Keylon says the whole team enjoys being able to provide this service and joy around this time of year, while also making sure customers get where they need to go in a time efficient manner.
Customer Ryan Tubbs was flying home to see family with his wife and two sons Wednesday. In the short time they have lived in Tulsa, they said they've never used any other service because of how quick and easy they are.
"I used to travel quite a bit for work, I used to only do the on premises airport parking because it was quick and in n most of the aiports I was traveling to, the more cost effective parking was so far away and it was too slow," said Tubbs. "It just takes the worry out of it."
While traveling can be an anxiety ridden process for some, Fine Parking team are trained to make the part of the trip they are responsible for as smooth as possible.
Fleet Manager Mark Westmoreland has been driving shuttles with Fine Airport Parking for 16 years. He said he knows that when people travel, they may think worse case scenario, but he hopes to alleviate some of that.
"My approach to it is to just make their experience here quick and easy and just keep their mind off whatever their gonna deal with at the airport or traveling one place to another," said Westmoreland.
While the lot only holds a little under two thousand spots, they pushed hard to ensure their south lot was open to add about one hundred additional opportunities for customers.
Customers can make reservations online, or show up as they need for travel. Keylon anticipates their lot to be full in the next two days as travel ramps up as the week ends.
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