Tales from the ONT Terminal: Meet the People Who Work Here

Every day, thousands of passengers pass through our gates on their way to their next destination. And every day, hundreds of ONT employees keep this small city of an airport running smoothly. This ongoing series is our way of pulling back the curtain and introducing you to the people who make it all happen. We'll show you what a day in their shoes looks like, how their work shapes your experience and why they love showing up for it.

We're also asking each of them for their best airport tips. After all, who better to ask than the people who live in this place every day?

Our first trio of employees includes Michael Rankin, who has spent nearly five years busing passengers between the terminals and parking lots. We also caught up with Heather Gregg, a customer experience representative who has been answering travelers' questions for nearly four years. And we swung by Brewery X in Terminal 4 to talk with Aarynn Goshen, who has worked there for a little over a year.  

Here are their stories. 

Knowing the ins and outs of the airport comes with the job for Rankin. At some point every shift, someone hops on his bus with a question that has nothing to do with the route. Usually it’s, ”Which airline is in which terminal?”

Rankin spent 30 years as a tour bus driver before joining ONT, and he says great customer service comes first, no matter the route.

"Talking to people is the best. It's fun," he said with a warm smile.

Rankin grew up helping out at his family's business, and even then, he says, it was never about the sale. He wanted to get to know his customers, a philosophy that he has carried through his entire career.

"It's about making a connection first," he said. "They're in a very stressful moment and they cannot miss their flight. I naturally get them to smile."

A little humor and sarcasm usually does the trick, breaking the tension almost instantly. More often than not, passengers walk away more than pleased with the ride.

He remembers one day when a burly older man and his wife stepped off the bus and pulled him in for a hug.

"Not a side hug. He brought me in," Rankin recalled. "He told me, 'Thanks, you're good at what you do.'"

Another traveler echoed the sentiment on a different day, and a passenger who flies often for business told him: "I've been doing this for 10 years and never seen a guy like you."

Those reactions, Rankin said, confirm he's doing something right.

His shift usually starts at 3 a.m., and even before the first flights land, he's busy shuttling rental car customers and employees arriving for work. Things pick up around 6 a.m. when flights start touching down.

Rankin said he and his colleagues keep tabs on each other's locations to make sure passengers always get the smoothest ride possible.

He also stays on top of real-time flight delays and cancellations, since those changes ripple straight into his route.

When a flight gets canceled, "I can adjust my time on the route so I can help," Rankin said. "If I know there's a lot of people at one terminal, I can be there faster."

In a way, Rankin doubles as an information booth on wheels. Passengers are constantly asking which airline flies out of which terminal, and not a day goes by that he doesn't spot someone sprinting to make it to Terminal 4.

When people board his bus, Rankin has a go-to line: if your gate starts with 200, you're headed to Terminal 2; if it starts with 400, it's Terminal 4.

After five years on these routes, Rankin's No. 1 piece of advice for travelers is simple: give yourself more time.

Factor in time to find parking, time to wait for and board the bus and time to clear security, he said. Those minutes add up fast once you're running behind.

"They don't allow enough time for things to go wrong," he said. "You need every minute of those two hours. Every single minute." 

Gregg chuckles when asked what a typical day looks like. As the customer experience specialist on duty before sunrise, her real job is planning for the unknown.

"A lot of people think our job is customer service and we're supposed to stand there and answer questions," she said. "I don't think they know the amount of advocating we do for them. We're letting other departments know how it can affect passengers."

No two days look the same in her role. She usually starts in the office with a quick check of emails and any questions coming in from the public, followed by a daily facility report that flags issues with seating, lighting or machines that are down.

She'll also check peak travel times across the terminals, so she knows exactly when and where to show up to help.

From there, she heads out to the terminals to answer questions and help keep the line moving through the TSA checkpoint.

"Usually, they just want reassurance they're going to make their flights," Gregg said. "The line normally moves fast, but people see a long line and immediately think they're going to miss their flights."

If Gregg thinks a passenger genuinely might be cutting it too close, she'll advise them to call their airline and look at rebooking before it becomes a bigger problem.

By 6 a.m. she's making her way around the terminals to offer assistance wherever it's needed.

Throughout the day, travelers come to her with every question imaginable: where to catch the shuttle to the rental car center, where to grab an Uber, where to find something to eat.

"We need to be continually aware of whatever is changing here," she said. "If there are things that might impact our job, we try to communicate with one another."

But after four years in the role, Gregg said it's the day-to-day interactions and the appreciation from customers that make the job worth it. She previously worked at an amusement park, and that experience is part of what drew her to ONT.

"I knew I couldn't just work in a tiny office space," she said. "I needed somewhere with a lot of activity."

One encounter still stands out to her: a grandmother trying to get her grandkids to New York for Christmas after a rough morning. Their bags were overweight, and the family ended up missing their flight.

Gregg found them in baggage claim, where the grandmother was reorganizing suitcases to get everyone under the weight limit. Gregg worked with the airline's customer service line and helped work out a new itinerary, one that actually got the family to New York earlier than their original flight would have.

"She had her grandson get me some flowers from the vending machine and had me meet her at the information desk," Gregg said. "I found it really touching that she wanted to thank me for all that help." 

Working in an airport has pushed customer service to a whole new level, says Goshen, who came from a hospitality background before landing at ONT.

"You have to work a little harder to get to know everybody," she said. "Because people are traveling, you might see somebody one day and never see them again. It makes all those interactions a little more special."

That's exactly why Goshen treats every interaction as its own small chance to leave a lasting impression.

"Sometimes people are not having the best day, and when you talk to them you can see them genuinely feel better. If I helped someone feel better, I feel better," she said. "It's very rewarding."

It's no surprise Goshen can recall regular customers by their order or their destination. Terminal 4 sees more than its share of business travelers, and she never rushes a single one of them.

For Goshen, it's about making sure customers get exactly what they need, whether that's answering questions about the craft beer selection or walking someone through the handmade pizza menu.

Her shifts rotate between mornings and nights, but they always start the same way: tidying up the restaurant, sweeping and checking in with guests.

"Most of the time we are just making sure passengers are happy," she said. "How often do you get to have deep conversations with people traveling? You sit there and get to know a lot about people. It's nice. When they come back, you can ask them about their trip."

Over time, Goshen said she's built friendships and had conversations she never expected walking into an airport bar.

Since Brewery X has no shortage of TVs, Goshen says it's a great spot to catch a game between flights. That's part of why she encourages travelers to arrive early and actually enjoy what the airport has to offer.

"A lot of people are rushing, and they don't have time to sit around, relax and eat," she said. "There's plenty of space to sit, and you're missing all the good opportunities."

Her most underrated tip: bring a reusable water bottle for a refill. Everyone travels with one these days, but they have to be empty before security.

"We have a lot of places to fill it up with water and ice," she said. "We got you." 

Ask the people who work at ONT every day for their best airport tips, and you'll notice a theme: give yourself more time than you think you need. 

Arrive earlier than you think you need to. Rankin, Gregg and Goshen all point to this as the No. 1 thing travelers get wrong. Rankin sees it firsthand on his bus route between the terminals and parking lots. His advice: build time to find parking, time to catch the bus and time to clear security, because those minutes add up fast the moment anything goes sideways.

"Any issue you have can most likely be resolved with a little bit of extra time," Gregg said. "When you're rushed and trying to resolve it right before that flight, it's going to impact your day." 

Read More: ONT First-Time Flyer Guide

Know your gate number before you go hunting for your terminal. Save yourself the guesswork; your gate number tells you exactly where to go. Rankin's rule of thumb is simple: gates in the 200s mean Terminal 2 and gates in the 400s mean Terminal 4. 

Ask about ONT's extra services, not just extra time. Gregg wants families and travelers with additional needs to know what's already available to them: a nursing room, the Sunflower Program (a discreet way to signal you may need extra time or care) and TSA Cares, which connects travelers with dedicated assistance through screening. These aren't hidden perks; they're built for exactly this.

Once you're through security, actually enjoy it. All that extra time only pays off if you use it. Goshen said too many travelers make a beeline for their gate and skip everything the airport has to offer along the way. "There's plenty of space to sit," she said, "and you're missing all the good opportunities."

Bring a reusable water bottle. Yes, it must be empty going through security, but that's not a reason to leave it home. Goshen said Brewery X in Terminal 4 will top it back off with water and ice once you're through. "We got you," she said.