POI Aviation wins gold in UA program

From left, POI Aviation vice president Ivan Quichocho, United Airlines general manager Justin Marion, UA senior manager for human resources Thelma B. Blas, new UA Saipan station manager Jennifer Cabrera, new UA regional safety manager David Baker, and Tan Holdings Corp. president and CEO Jerry Tan pose for a photo yesterday morning at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport lobby after POI received the gold status award in safety and security out of 34 UA stations in the Pacific region. (LEIGH GASES)

Pacific Oriental Inc. Aviation, or the POI Aviation team, has achieved gold status in the United Airlines Core4 Pillar Program covering safety, work safety, and security.

United’s Core4 Pillars are safety, caring, dependability, and efficiency. UA Saipan station ranked first in all four. In the area of safety and security, POI Aviation ranked first out of 34 UA stations in the Pacific region.

A ceremony was held and attended by United general manager Justin Marion; Tan Holdings Corp. president and CEO, Jerry Tan; United senior human resources manager Thelma B. Blas; the new Regional Safety manager for United, David Baker, who will be based in Guam; new United Saipan Station manager Jennifer Sablan, and POI and United Airlines staff at the lobby of the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport.

POI Aviation vice president Ivan Quichocho said the gold status was based on audit results from how they conduct business, how they adhere to safety and security measures, consistency, and how they secure the workplace and customers. “Our last few audits have been consistently high based on the end goal for all the targets of safety and security.”

Platinum status is what they will aim for in the next quarter, said Quichocho.

Baker and Marion thanked the POI team for being partners of UA in delivering safe, caring, dependable, and efficient service to customers.

In Marion’s remarks, he said, “Despite the challenges with the pandemic, if there’s anything our team up here [on] Saipan has proven is that we have definitely persevered and we continue to deliver great customer service and a reliable operation, but more importantly, safely.”

“We couldn’t have done it on the United front without, of course, the assistance of our POI team so I just want to say you have an awesome team on Saipan and thank you for the commitment and the support always,” said Marion.

Tan praised the hard work of both POI and United staff. He said, “I know how important it is to have the relationship and partnership with whoever you’re working with. From the very beginning of this partnership with UA until today, I’m very proud of team POI but I’m not surprised with their award because I know they are a great team and they will continue to deliver.”

At the same time, United and Tan thanked Baker for his service and welcomed Sablan who is now the new UA Saipan station manager replacing Baker.

POI Aviation is an independent aircraft ground handling company fully owned by Tan Holdings Corp. It has been in operation since July 1991 and has served all areas of ground handling services for Northwest Airlines, Asiana Airlines, United Airlines, Korean Air, and other private airlines. POI Aviation used to be called Pacific Oriental Inc. but its name was changed to emphasize the company’s expertise in the market it serves.