Latest / Podcasts By Donna Jodhan / Remarkable World Commentary Episode #52: Interview with Cathy Nyfors, Manager, Passenger Programs, Vancouver Airport Authority

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Remarkable World Commentary Episode #52: Interview with Cathy Nyfors, Manager, Passenger Programs, Vancouver Airport Authority · Podcasts By Donna Jodhan

0:13
Podcast Commentator: Greetings. Donna J Jodhan, LLB, ACSP and MBA,
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invites you to listen to her biweekly podcast,
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Remarkable World Commentary here.
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Donna shares some of her innermost thoughts, insights,
0:28
perspectives, and more with her listeners.
0:31
Donna focuses on topics that directly affect the future of kids,
0:35
especially kids with disabilities.
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Donna is a blind advocate, author, site loss coach,
0:42
dinner mystery producer, writer, entrepreneur,
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law graduate, and podcast commentator.
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She has decades of lived experiences, knowledge,
0:53
skills, and expertise in access technology and information as someone who has been
0:59
internationally recognized for her work and roles.
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She just wants to make things better than possible.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Remarkable World Commentary.
1:14
I'm Donna Jodhan, a lifelong disability advocate and one who sees the world mainly
1:22
through sound, touch and stubborn optimism.
1:26
I am a law graduate, accessibility consultant,
1:30
author, lifelong barrier buster who also happens to be blind.
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You may know me from a few headline moments, as in November 2010,
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I won the Landmark Charter case that forced the Canadian government to make its websites
1:48
accessible to every Canadian, not just to sighted ones.
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And in July of 2019, I co-led the Accessible Canada Act,
2:00
with more than two dozen disability groups to turn equal access into federal law and most
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recently on June the 3rd, 2022.
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I was greatly humbled by Her Late Majesty's Platinum Jubilee Award for tireless
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commitment to removing barriers.
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When I'm not in a courtroom or a committee room or pottery studio,
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you will find me coaching kids with vision loss,
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producing audio mysteries, or helping tech companies to make their
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gadgets talk back in plain language.
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Everything I do circles one goal to turn accessibility from an afterthought into
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everyday practice. I invite you to think of this show as our shared workbench where
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policy meets lived experience and lived experience sparks fresh ideas.
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Now, before we jump into today's conversation,
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let me shine a quick spotlight on today's guest changemaker,
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whose work is as every bit as remarkable as the world that we are trying to build.
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Kathy Flores, I'd like to welcome you to my podcast,
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Remarkable World Commentary, and it was a pleasure to have met you.
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I think it was at the end of April when I attended the Air Canada Advisory Group
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meeting. Welcome to my podcast.
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Cathy Nyfors: Thank you so much Donna, and thank you for your very kind words.
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This is an incredible opportunity, and I'm truly honored to be a guest on the
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Remarkable World Commentary.
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I am also pleased to join remotely from the traditional and unceded territory of the
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Musqueam people here at YVR.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Great. Okay, so let's get started.
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Cathy, could you explain how the Vancouver Airport Authority's unique governance model
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shapes day to day decisions about the passenger experience at YVR?
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Cathy Nyfors: Thanks so much, Donna, for that. Great question.
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Well, the Vancouver Airport Authority, Vancouver International Airport is Canada's
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second busiest airport.
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We are a non share capital organization that operates YVR in truly the service of our
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community and the economy that supports it.
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Now, I know that's a little bit of a.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Mouthful.
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Cathy Nyfors: That I've just shared there, but I think what I really want to emphasize
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is that this unique governance model that YVR has really places our community at the center
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of our operation. The structure truly allows YVR to Are to prioritize accessibility,
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inclusion, and the guest experience.
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We use this to evaluate all of our decisions through five strategic lenses,
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and one of those being customer.
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That customer lens includes accessibility as a key component,
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ensuring that everyone at our airport has a seamless and inclusive experience.
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We've also developed a multi year accessibility plan or roadmap we've called
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Beyond Accessibility, which was truly co-created,
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working closely with our customers, our community,
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our employees and our guests that we serve.
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And I think what's really unique about this model is it supports that culture of
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continuous improvement, where feedback from our from our customers
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and our community and our employees directly influence those decisions and our operational
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enhancements at the airport here.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: I was truly impressed by your airport.
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I mean, I've been to Vancouver a few times.
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Way back in 20, I think it was 2010 and then a few times after that.
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But boy oh boy, what a refreshing experience.
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And I just like to acknowledge two of your your coworkers here.
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Lori is one of them. And I forget the young man's name.
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I was very, very impressed with the service that they offered me.
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I forget his name, I do apologize.
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Cathy Nyfors: Oh, please. No. No apologies necessary.
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Thank you so much. That means so much to to to me and the entire team here.
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To here. That that the service that they're providing is is making a difference and being
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acknowledged. Thank you. I will definitely pass that along.
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But this really appreciated and kind thank you for sharing that, Donna.
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It truly means a lot to us.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: You're very welcome. Now from your vantage point on the terminal floor,
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what does quote accessibility quotation mark mean in practical terms.
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And how did that philosophy guide the design of Vivres?
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New international departures area.
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Cathy Nyfors: Thanks so much, Donna. That's a great question. And I know there was a lot of a lot
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of great work that went into designing our new wing and our international departures
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area, and I think I'll just really kind of go back to,
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you know, folk with starting with our purpose.
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Really, truly. What I shared earlier is just the heart of what we do is serving our
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community. And I think a big part of that has always been you know,
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really listening and learning from our customers.
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The work we truly do is, is, is truly rooted in listening to to all of
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the users of the airport.
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And it's from that listening where we love gathering those insights of where are there
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some ways we can improve?
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What are some things that our customers are really liking about our terminal design?
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How can we learn about barriers and identify service enhancements so we can really,
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really bring and bring to life that designing with meaningful inclusion at our core.
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So our terminal expansion of our international departures area is a really
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exciting opportunity to to really embody and bring in that customer feedback because we
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are designing, you know, whole new space.
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So I think, you know it was such a great opportunity to,
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to really look at all of our customer feedback and see how we can really make our
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experience even better with this new, with this new space and design.
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I wanted to start just with a bit of a story of of where this thing really is such a key
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part of what we do. So one of our pieces of feedback that we had received was that there
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was a lack of adult change benches or assisted change rooms,
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and that was a barrier for some of our guests.
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And in some cases, this meant that that some of our guests were needing to use the floor
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for changing purposes.
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So as a result, what we started first with was,
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okay, this is this is not acceptable.
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We want to make a change here.
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So how do we add manual adult change matches to all of our existing washrooms.
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So we did that. Wherever space allowed we added a fold down manual change bench into
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our private single stall washrooms.
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Then we also updated our our design criteria for the airport and for any new private
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single stall washrooms where it would include an adult size change bench.
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And then with with this new opportunity of designing this new pier,
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we also created the design for a new assisted change room or what's often called a changing
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place washroom. And that includes that height adjustable change bench an overhead hoist
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system along with other accessibility features.
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Part of the new international wing also included.
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You know, we we did and we did create some additional private single stall washrooms,
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just giving more flexibility next to our public bank.
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We also had quiet spaces for for neurodivergent,
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neurodiverse travelers.
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We have wayfinding and and signage, including adding tactile braille signage,
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changing stations and and seating for comfort and accessibility.
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And, of course, animal relief areas.
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We even added a yoga space for customers to stretch,
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relax and exercise while they're at YVR because,
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you know, sometimes you have a little ways to wait before your flight.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Yes, I remember seeing that yoga room when I was in Vancouver at the end of April.
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I think you gave us a tour of that room as well.
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I was really impressed.
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Yeah.
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Cathy Nyfors: Thank you so much.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Yeah. All right. The airport leverages a digital twin analytical platform.
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How might a real time virtual model of the terminal Unlock new accessibility or
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efficiency efficiency enhancements for passengers with disabilities.
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Cathy Nyfors: Thank you so much. It's a great question. I think it's the digital twin is has so many
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exciting options available through it.
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And the digital twin itself is that virtual representation of our airport facility and
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the Musqueam lands on which we reside.
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This was developed by our incredible innovation team at YVR.
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Really, you know, using the digital twin we've been using it extensively since January
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2023. It's really helped our teams to make better faster,
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data driven decisions that support that operational excellence,
11:35
the customer experience sustainability and revenue growth.
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I think some of the exciting things about the digital twin is it really gives our team,
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you know, that one source of truth real time monitoring of our systems,
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you know, bringing in all the different data sources such as air traffic,
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passenger movements, baggage handling and hundreds of the airport systems that our
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teams use every single day to make sure that it's as smooth and seamless experience for
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customers. It really has empowered our team and stakeholders to effectively operate the
12:09
airport and manage manage assets.
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But I always believe in sharing, you know, a story of how to your question of,
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you know, how can this unlock new accessibility or efficiency enhancements.
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So I want to share one example of how my team is using the digital twin to improve the
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experience and accessibility at YVR.
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I always like to start with customer feedback as that often where we're,
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where we're, we're we're starting is identifying areas where we can improve our
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services. And one area of feedback that we had received through our community
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consultation, was making it easier for guests to locate a wheelchair for their own use.
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So following this feedback, we expanded our inventory and introduced
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wheelchairs readily at our key entrance points and and key points where customers
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were looking to to borrow wheelchair.
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And while this improved our service for our guests,
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making them more readily available, we heard that our team that was required to
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collect them on it throughout the day and then return them to their home bases,
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was having a challenge to locate locate them and return them again to those entry entrance
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spots? So this is just where truly where technology can come into place was we added
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equipment trackers onto our wheelchairs, and then the visualization of their location
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on our one source of truth through the digital twin.
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So this really helped with the efficient collection,
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but it also gave us some information for capacity planning to make sure that we could
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have the right numbers of, of wheelchairs, in essence,
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in the right place for our customers, but also to make sure that the collection was
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efficient for our teams as well at the same time.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: I think this is great.
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I mean, you know, like you have guests who often get tired or,
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you know, like waiting around or standing around and you know,
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why not, you know, find a wheelchair and take advantage of it.
14:06
Hey.
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Cathy Nyfors: Yeah. No, thank you so much. I think we wanted, you know, we wanted to have
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complimentary services.
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We know we've got, you know, our airlines are here and provide an
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excellent service to our guests. We have our curbside service ourselves as well.
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Yeah, but we had heard from guests that, you know,
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if they just want to borrow one to help a family member or their travel companion,
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we wanted to make those more readily available.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: I think it's great. I really do.
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Cathy Nyfors: Thank you so much.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Yeah. So you helped launch autism airport accessibility tours
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with the Canucks. Is it autism network?
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What key lessons emerged from those rehearsal journeys and how have they changed drivers?
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Why standard procedures?
15:03
Cathy Nyfors: Another great question, Donna. Thank you so much. You know, this this
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initiative you know, started well over, well over ten years ago.
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So we partnered with Canucks Autism Network.
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We've been partnering with them since 2014.
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When we first designed the program, the tour program to offer neurodiverse
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individuals and families the opportunity to come out and rehearse the preflight process
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really aiming to reduce those barriers of travel and help to prepare families and
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individuals with what to expect and, you know,
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creating that more predictable environment.
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And I, I just need to take that moment to thank all of our government agencies and
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airline partners for the support in making those tours possible.
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Each year. We love participating in them, and it's a great opportunity for the
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community to come together.
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But to your question, apologies on on the the lessons emerged.
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I've got just a few examples that I, that I'd really like to share.
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The first one is you know, why the Canucks Autism network joined
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together to also create some resource kits?
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So these featured sort of a step by step storybook,
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an interactive checklist travel tips and more.
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And these were just created as a, as additional options for guests because,
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again, not everyone may have that opportunity to come out to to the annual tour,
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but we wanted to create different options for them.
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You know, based on based on feedback as well from the tour.
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And then at the same time, we also developed training tips for teams and
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partners in partnership with Autism Network.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Okay.
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Cathy Nyfors: The second one that I wanted to share is we also offer a sunflower program.
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So where a guest could choose to wear a sunflower lanyard or maybe have a sticker on
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their boarding pass as a, as a discreet way to let staff know they have
17:00
an invisible disability.
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We actually did a soft launch.
17:04
We we were working on our launch plans for the sunflower program.
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But we we chose to do a soft launch of of before we launched to the whole community
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here during one of our accessibility tours.
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And it just really gave us that opportunity to get feedback and help build awareness from
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staff prior to the launch.
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And then the third one that I, I'm hoping I could share as well is just
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around, you know, empowering beyond the traveler experience.
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I don't know if we had a chance if you had a chance to see this Donna,
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while you were here, the Paper Planes cafe.
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But we're also thinking about things, you know,
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beyond traveling and wider supports, you know,
17:44
creating those employment and learning opportunities.
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And so, in partnership with the Pacific Autism Family Network,
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right, to create a new retail concept called the Paper Planes Cafe.
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And it's more than just a coffee shop.
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It's a place where adults with diverse abilities can gain real world paid training
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and employment opportunities.
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And I'm really, just really proud of of this incredible inclusion that this cafe is
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creating. And just to share just a little bit of stats is they have been able to support 22
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neurodivergent trainees who've completed over 40 500 hours of hands on training at the
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cafe.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Wow. Okay. I don't think I got an opportunity to see that cafe.
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I got to get out there and see it.
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Cathy Nyfors: I hope next time you're here.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Yeah. Yeah, I hope so, too.
18:37
Gosh. Now, why? Vr has won the Skytrax and the Asai CI Customer Experience
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Award year after year.
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What metrics or feedback loops help your team stay ahead of changing traveler
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expectations?
19:02
Cathy Nyfors: You know, we're really proud to have been voted best Airport in North America in the
19:07
2025 Skytrax World Airport Awards, which marks the 14th time in 16 years that
19:15
Riviera has received this distinction.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Whoa. Wow. Okay. Sorry.
19:22
Cathy Nyfors: No, that's. Thank you.
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This this honor, truly comes solely from passenger ratings and is really special to
19:32
our team. Because of, really our focus on putting the guests at the
19:36
center of what we do. And it's a focus of, you know,
19:40
not only myself, but our entire organization.
19:44
You asked a little bit about metrics and feedback loops of how we're how we're staying
19:49
ahead and really listening closely to our customers.
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And we have a number of different variety of ways that we're doing this.
19:56
We've got, you know, our online accessibility surveys.
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We're doing community partner consultations employee feedback as well,
20:05
passenger journey mapping sessions.
20:08
We look at guest experience data, direct feedback from from our customers.
20:13
We also evaluate programs, specific data.
20:16
You know, again learning how how how are we doing on different services,
20:20
whether it be our sunflower program or others?
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And also our customer surveys are really key.
20:26
We regularly listen to customers and speak to them in the airport to learn,
20:32
you know, how how how can we find out what things are working?
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Well, where do we need to improve?
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And we've also increased that to about every 4 to 5 days so that really we can get more of
20:43
that real time feedback on what's happening and so that we can take action to to improve
20:49
those services if there's areas that aren't going well.
20:52
And these are things we need to continue to do. We need to continue to look at those
20:56
opportunities. I think of what are those different metrics and feedback areas,
21:02
but we're going to continue to look at these and really identify those pain points.
21:06
And how can we use this to really drive the experience and and decisions that.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: You guys are very, very proactive, right?
21:15
Yes.
21:16
Cathy Nyfors: Yes, we're trying to be but but it truly like this feedback is means so much to us.
21:23
Yeah. It really helps us to identify ways that we can make their work better.
21:28
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: I think that's terrific.
21:29
Cathy Nyfors: Thank you so much.
21:31
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Yeah. Now, why VR has earned a Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility award for inclusive
21:41
Move washrooms and adult change tables.
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What obstacles did your team overcome to move those features from a blueprint to reality?
21:56
Cathy Nyfors: Well, in 2018, Donna, we we were really proud to receive the
22:00
Accessibility Certified Gold rating under the Rick Hansen Foundation's certification
22:05
program. We're the first airport to receive this rating and at the time was the highest
22:11
rated building.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Whoa. Okay.
22:14
Cathy Nyfors: The the program itself measures, you know, the meaningful access of a building
22:20
or site. And I think I spoke when I talked earlier just about the example of the adult
22:26
change benches. Yeah. You know, I would say for us,
22:29
the main obstacle really to solve is being creative with our space,
22:34
because we have to ensure, you know, when we're talking about some of
22:36
these larger washroom sizes or design requirements for adult change tables.
22:42
It was really about how do we find enough space to be able to achieve these goals?
22:50
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: My goodness. Okay. Could you share a behind the scenes example where co-design with
22:59
people who have lived experience, such as blind or autistic travelers,
23:08
directly influenced a facility or policy?
23:14
Cathy Nyfors: Yes, absolutely. Well, I would like to share a couple of examples,
23:19
if that's all right. So.
23:20
Sure.
23:20
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Yeah.
23:21
Cathy Nyfors: First I wanted to share was how we launched a new program.
23:24
It's called the Travel Rehearsal Program, and it offers individual support for
23:29
passengers to come out in advance of book travel to preview their journey.
23:34
This rehearsal is is designed in a similar way to the one I talked about with the
23:38
Canucks Autism Network team, meant to reduce barriers to air travel and a
23:43
chance for people to participate and practice before their trip,
23:47
making the airport a more familiar less stressful place as well.
23:53
But but we learned that with our group tour programs that that we offer not everyone was
23:59
able to make it out to those to those tours.
24:02
So we created this this travel rehearsal program which again,
24:06
directly influenced from customer feedback, really allowing that opportunity for
24:11
individuals to come out and and practice and prepare before their trip.
24:15
So when they have booked travel which is, which is one of the requirements so that we
24:21
can take a customer Post-security then we're able to,
24:25
to support the guest in, in walking doing that pre pre walkthrough and
24:30
pre-practice through basically the exact path that they would take that day of travel.
24:35
And we can answer any questions that they might have.
24:38
Talk about our accessibility services.
24:41
You know, provide information and introductions to our airline partners as
24:45
well. So it really was just you know, such a key program for us in enhancing
24:54
enhancing what we offer through our accessibility tour programs.
24:58
And I'm really happy to say that we've provided 34 of those travel rehearsals since
25:03
our launch. And the feedback has just been tremendous on on how much it's making a
25:07
difference.
25:09
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Our other airports across Canada doing the same thing.
25:12
Do you know.
25:13
Cathy Nyfors: I am aware there may be more, but I'm aware of two others.
25:17
I'm aware of Winnipeg and also Toronto are are both offering these individual travel
25:23
rehearsal programs.
25:25
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: I think Cathy Saliba mentioned that in her interview.
25:28
So that's why I was asking you know, if there were other airports.
25:32
I think it's great. I mean, like, I for one,
25:34
would love to have a rehearsal before I travel,
25:38
although I do travel a lot, but I think it would be great,
25:42
especially for the first time traveler.
25:45
You know, they want a little reassurance and they want to know,
25:48
you know, like when they take this kind of tour,
25:51
they'll say to themselves, well, I know what to expect,
25:54
right?
25:55
Cathy Nyfors: Of course.
25:56
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Reassurance. Yeah. Now aging travelers form a growing demographic.
26:04
How is YVR adapting wayfinding, seating and assistance services
26:14
to meet the needs of older passengers while still benefiting everyone?
26:23
Cathy Nyfors: Another great question, Donna. Thank you so much.
26:26
Thank you. Why we are we're really committed to making changes that benefit all travelers
26:30
and improve the travel experience for all. Universal design has been a core value of
26:34
ours since the very beginning, I want to share a couple of examples.
26:39
The first one I want to talk about is to share our new Curbside Greeter and assistance
26:43
program. As you mentioned, you talked about assistance services.
26:47
Yeah. Introduced in December 2023, our Curbside Greeter program basically
26:53
extends our customer experience team to the to the curb area.
26:57
So of course we've been offering our customer assistance program or curbside curbside
27:02
assistance program for many years.
27:04
But really this curbside greeter program was an evolution of our service to have our
27:09
greeters strategically stationed to welcome guests as they arrive curbside,
27:14
so that we could proactively be there to provide them with information,
27:18
directions assistance.
27:22
And and it's it's been a real success for us.
27:25
I would say from a feedback perspective, lots of amazing anecdotal feedback of of how
27:31
our team has been proactively welcoming guests and,
27:34
and supporting them, whether it's whether it's just navigating to the check in area or
27:41
direct assistance to the check in area, whether it be through sighted guidance or or
27:46
a wheelchair assistance or just help with someone's luggage.
27:50
Our latest number since launching our curbside greeter program is that we've
27:56
supported just under 29,000 customers year to date and growing.
28:01
I'm sure it's it's it's even higher.
28:06
And then the the second opportunity or.
28:09
Sorry, the second example that I wanted to share was that we've also been trialing.
28:14
And I think, Donna, you might have had a chance to see these while you were here, but
28:18
we've we've also been trialing our self-driving robotic pot.
28:22
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Oh, yes.
28:24
Cathy Nyfors: Yeah.
28:25
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: I love that one. Yeah.
28:27
Cathy Nyfors: Oh. Oh, great. Yeah. No, it's been.
28:30
A lot of really learning.
28:31
We've received tremendous feedback.
28:34
You know, we we've 100% of, of people who have of our customers who've
28:39
tried them have, have recommended have recommended,
28:44
recommended their service. Apologies.
28:46
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Yeah.
28:46
Cathy Nyfors: But you know, we've been we're really excited.
28:49
We've been working with the local company and K robotics and you know,
28:53
for for us, you know, of course, we have the airline service that
28:57
is this is still available.
28:58
This just is a service that complements this.
29:01
This technology offers, you know, really guests of all ages and
29:05
abilities, the opportunity to independently navigate the terminals and,
29:10
and that opportunity to fully participate in all services,
29:14
you know, whether it's shopping or dining or amenities along the way.
29:18
And I talked a little Some of the other examples that I kind of shared,
29:25
just maybe from a built environment.
29:27
But thinking about the sheer size of our terminal is one of our areas of feedback that
29:33
we've received is that walking through the terminal can,
29:39
can really feel like long, long distance.
29:42
So one example, it's, you know, 650m from our security screening
29:47
checkpoint to our furthest gate.
29:49
So that's really this type of technology.
29:50
And service allows us to add additional options for customers and really ultimately
29:55
making it easier to navigate and, and increasing that independence as well.
30:02
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: I really enjoyed that, that, you know, experience on what is it
30:07
called, again.
30:08
Cathy Nyfors: The robotic self, a self-driving robotic pods.
30:12
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: But yeah.
30:13
Cathy Nyfors: Some may call it autonomous, you know, autonomous self-driving vehicles.
30:17
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: I really liked it. I really, really enjoyed that.
30:21
And, you know, the other thing too is I think once someone like,
30:26
you know, you get to the airport and the first thing you have a curbside greeter,
30:30
I think it, it, it starts things off on the right foot.
30:34
You know, like it? It makes you feel.
30:36
Oh, now I'm going to get good care.
30:39
And I think that is really, really important.
30:42
The curbside experience.
30:44
You know, for me, anyway, that's what I think.
30:47
Yeah.
30:48
Cathy Nyfors: Well, thank you so much.
30:50
I could share a little bit about our wayfinding as well.
30:53
Just because I know you're just about our wayfinding.
30:55
Yes. So our wayfinding is truly one that continues to evolve to to evolve.
31:02
We've really we've got a really amazing wayfinding and signage teams.
31:08
They're definitely you know, take all feedback to heart.
31:12
They're looking at ways that they can increase font size,
31:15
add better improve contrast levels.
31:18
And I think a great example of that was we just recently opened up a new security
31:24
screening area in our domestic travel area in our park.
31:30
And, you know, we have this enormous digital sign now out front of it.
31:35
So prior to that, it was it was much smaller signage and some of the font sizes would have
31:40
been smaller as well. So the whole digital screens now surround the security screening
31:45
entrance, making it just a lot more easier to from a location perspective.
31:50
We were able to include language on both security and gates,
31:55
because we found that some customers were kind of looking for 1 or 2 of those,
31:59
you know, different, different interpretation of what they were looking for next.
32:03
Right? And, you know, it really just allowed us that opportunity to
32:06
have much larger font size that allowed us to to also have some some terminal maps there,
32:14
which also talk about like the what?
32:16
Like what's the walking times getting to various piers and just allowed us really to,
32:21
you know, continue to evolve our wayfinding services.
32:26
Again, just thinking about all of our customers who use them and wanting to make it
32:29
more readable for all of our visitors.
32:33
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Are you? Do you use IRA?
32:36
Do you have the IRA technology at the airport?
32:39
Cathy Nyfors: Yes we do.
32:39
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: You do?
32:40
Cathy Nyfors: Yes.
32:41
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: So you're up to date? Like you know, the wayfinder is great.
32:44
Ira is great. Anything else that you have?
32:47
Any other technology? We.
32:52
Cathy Nyfors: I think one of the other ones that I can share is we also offer in flight information
32:59
status that customers could sign up for.
33:01
So we have all of our flight information display screens in the terminal,
33:05
and we you know, of course, we have those in high contrast as well from a
33:12
readability. But customers could also sign up for flight updates that come directly to
33:17
their phone or by email.
33:19
Okay. All of our check in kiosks and customs kiosks are all designed to meet accessibility
33:26
requirements. Right. There's probably some others that I'm missing,
33:30
but those are just a couple that just come to to top of mind.
33:35
Oh, the other one we do have as well.
33:36
We've got our translation service that's available 24 over seven for customers in over
33:42
240 languages.
33:44
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Oh.
33:45
Cathy Nyfors: And but also including American Sign Language as well.
33:49
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Any audio feedback? Do you have?
33:56
No.
33:57
Cathy Nyfors: I'm sorry. Do you mean.
33:59
What? Sorry. Meaning? So our paging system.
34:02
So our announcements are available in audio and visual format.
34:07
And also include sign language at our boarding gates as well.
34:12
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Okay. For airports considering similar inclusion efforts,
34:19
what budget neutral or low cost changes have proven surprisingly impactful at
34:29
Why VR?
34:34
Cathy Nyfors: That's a great question. Thank you so much. I think the one that I wanted to share from
34:39
from the low cost you know, and that had a really wonderful impact was in
34:45
2024 I talked about this just just a moment ago,
34:50
but why? They're introduced our sign language video boarding messages in three languages.
34:55
So American Sign Language, Quebec sign language,
34:58
and international sign on all of our gate information screens.
35:04
And these messages complement our existing audio and visual announcements,
35:09
ensuring seamless communication for our customers.
35:12
And I think, you know, so so basically, when an airline agent
35:15
triggers, you know, the boarding messages, it's displaying it in all of those different
35:20
formats. So the audio visual and also sign language feedback has been tremendously
35:26
positive. You know, with one example that I can share was,
35:31
you know, I feel so happy and relaxed because I don't have to worry about ground staff or
35:36
asking ground staff for help when they're busy.
35:39
You know, thank you for thinking of the deaf community.
35:43
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: My goodness. Okay. Why why VR collaborates with border agencies,
35:51
airlines and retailers and community groups.
35:56
How do you cultivate a shared accessibility mindset among partners who may have very
36:05
different priorities?
36:10
Cathy Nyfors: You know why VR has developed our multi year accessibility plan beyond accessibility.
36:15
And a big part of that plan is our four killer four pillars four main pillars that
36:22
we've developed, which is leadership, engaged community experience and design.
36:27
Sign, and a key part of that engaged community is really making sure that we're
36:32
working collaboratively with our partners to create that inclusive experience across all
36:37
touch points. So we do this in a number of ways.
36:40
You know, we we, we connect regularly with our partners from from building awareness of
36:45
our services, working group meetings exploring ways that we can really work
36:50
together to remove barriers or, you know, to trial new innovation.
36:55
And I thought I would share one example today of,
36:58
of just that, that work of our partnership you know,
37:01
with our airline partners.
37:03
So we partnered with Sierra Seaplanes.
37:06
So we have a full plane service here also at YVR.
37:12
It's closer to our terminal.
37:14
And so wyverns are seaplanes work together to introduce a new lift at their YVR floatplane
37:20
plane which is again based near the cell terminal.
37:23
So this this new lift was designed to make travel seamless for guests with mobility
37:28
needs by making it easier to board and exit from a float plane.
37:33
I know when I've traveled by float plane myself,
37:35
you know, it's kind of going up those stairs. It might be a little rocky,
37:39
depending on the things.
37:41
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Yeah.
37:42
Cathy Nyfors: You know, but this innovative lift was designed by local company Aircraft Access
37:47
Solutions and is making a real difference in reducing barriers to our regional and remote
37:53
communities that we served.
37:55
And basically to kind of give it a bit of a description the lift basically connects with
38:00
the dock and then the float plane, and it allows the guest to move up onto the
38:05
float plane in a seated position for both entering and exiting the plane,
38:10
again, making it making it really seamless and removing that barrier where in some cases
38:16
some customers who are using wheelchair may or may not have been able to take a float
38:19
plane previously.
38:22
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: I think for me, I've never taken a float plane,
38:24
but it makes me want to take one, you know, just to try it out and see.
38:29
Because I know a lot of people do get nervous about,
38:32
you know, stepping off the float plane and onto the dock or wherever they,
38:35
you know, they have to. So I think this is great.
38:38
Yeah. Okay. So many passengers recognize why RVers,
38:45
green coat volunteers, what training principles did you develop for
38:52
them and how do those volunteers reinforce the airport's customer service culture?
39:03
Cathy Nyfors: Well, thank you so much for the great question about our volunteer team.
39:07
You know, we're really proud of this volunteer program.
39:10
I'm going to give a shout out to Drew Pancratz,
39:12
the manager of our incredible volunteers here.
39:16
You know, they've been in place since 1989 here at YVR.
39:20
And today we have a team of 375 amazing volunteers who come in seven days a week here
39:28
at YVR. And I think what's so special about them is they really are here and so dedicated
39:34
to inclusion and service.
39:37
They're often that first point of contact.
39:40
They, they really play that vital role in welcoming guests,
39:43
helping to inform them and just making sure they're there.
39:47
They have that, that supportive environment.
39:51
You talked a bit about the training principles.
39:54
They all of the volunteers through their orientation go through many days of
40:00
orientation training. They also complete our overall accessibility training program called
40:06
respectability. And then we also bring in partners such as Pacific Autism Family
40:12
Network to provide some.
40:14
Training as well. Right.
40:16
We have offered some unique classes as well, such as Parkinson's and dementia friendly
40:23
travel training as well for our green coat team.
40:26
And you know, they are so dedicated.
40:29
This team, they also come in and support a lot of our accessibility initiatives,
40:32
you know, from our travel rehearsal program to our community events such as what we
40:38
talked about earlier for Canucks Autism Network or Spinal Cord Injury BC and many,
40:43
many more. You know, they this team really takes inclusion to heart.
40:48
And I wanted to share one one last example just on our volunteer team is they even
40:53
created they are really great about sharing feedback.
40:59
And one of our volunteers came forward and, and brought forward the idea of they wanted
41:03
to create a French language training program.
41:07
And they wanted to help to make our team to feel more comfortable in serving our guests
41:12
in into official languages.
41:13
And they do so much on accessibility.
41:15
But I just wanted to say inclusion is just part of what they do,
41:18
including even having an amazing team who brings forward ideas of of new ways that that
41:24
we can help to serve our customers well.
41:28
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: This is terrific. I'm really impressed.
41:31
I got to go live out in Vancouver now.
41:33
A.
41:35
Cathy Nyfors: Well, you'll be very welcome.
41:37
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Thank you very much. I have one final question for you.
41:42
If every airport worldwide could adopt one change tomorrow to make air travel more
41:51
welcoming and inclusive, what would you choose and why?
41:59
Cathy Nyfors: Well, Donna, that's a really tough one to pick.
42:02
To pick one thing.
42:04
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Give it a go.
42:05
Cathy Nyfors: I feel like I have a list, but but, you know.
42:07
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: You could give us more than one if you want, but.
42:11
Cathy Nyfors: I think for me you know, I, I think what what truly drives us and what
42:18
I would say is that from that, accessibility is a continuous journey of
42:23
inclusion. And I think for me that really if I had to pick one thing,
42:28
it would be on really focusing on listening to our customers,
42:31
collaborating with our community, but then also implementing those changes.
42:36
I think those are really key.
42:37
And I feel like that's, you know, I have to go back to like the heart
42:41
of what we do is, is our purpose of serving our community.
42:45
And we want to make sure that we're choosing the right things.
42:48
We're really identifying those areas for meaningful access and meaningful inclusion.
42:54
And I, I feel like that one thing that I think really drives all of that is making
42:59
sure that we're listening and learning from our customers and employees and community.
43:06
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Kathy, it has been a pleasure having you on our podcast,
43:09
and I invite you to come back, you know, in a few months,
43:12
in a year's time, we want to know more of what why VR is doing.
43:16
I mean, like, to me, it sounds as if, like you,
43:19
you're pretty well ahead of other airports across Canada.
43:22
I don't know if I'd get into trouble for saying that,
43:25
but I'm truly, truly impressed.
43:27
And anytime you feel you want to share something with us,
43:31
please let us know.
43:34
Cathy Nyfors: Thank you so much, Donna.
43:35
Like thank you for your kind words.
43:37
It really it truly means so much to me and our team.
43:41
And, you know, we if there's, you know, any of your listeners are looking
43:47
for more information on our services.
43:49
You know, those are available at wivb.com.
43:52
But we also welcome any further feedback on ways we can improve our experience.
43:57
We're going to be launching our next three year plan in June 2026 next year.
44:03
So but you know, I think thank you for being on this journey of inclusion with us is what
44:10
I also wanted to say. And thank you, Donna, for your the incredible work that
44:14
you're doing with this podcast.
44:15
And I just am so grateful and honored to be given this opportunity to to be a guest on
44:21
your podcast.
44:23
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: I am honored to have had you, and I would like you to say hello to Lori and
44:26
that wonderful young man.
44:28
I wish I could remember his name, but oh my gosh.
44:32
He was very innovative.
44:34
I think it was the day before the federal election,
44:36
and he had his way of, you know, having a survey of what people were
44:41
thinking in a very diplomatic way.
44:44
So say hello to him for me.
44:47
Cathy Nyfors: Well, thank you so much, Donna.
44:49
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: So have a great rest of the day.
44:51
Thank you very much. And we'll talk again soon.
44:54
Cathy Nyfors: That sounds wonderful.
44:55
Thank you very much, Donna. We'll talk to you soon.
44:57
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Yeah. Thanks, Cathy. Take care now.
44:59
Cathy Nyfors: Take care. Bye bye.
45:00
Donna J. Jodhan, LLC, ACSP, MBA: Bye bye.
45:05
Podcast Commentator: Donna wants to hear from you and invites you to write to her at Donna at gmail.com.
45:11
Until next time.