Frontline Faces: Chris Giokas, Operations

Chris Giokas has held many roles throughout his 15-year career at Tampa International Airport, but all seem to share a common theme: helping people.

He got his start at the Airport as a Public Safety Dispatcher in the Airport Operations Center (AOC) in 2005, dispatching 911 and emergency calls and soon moved into a supervisor role. Chris continued to climb into a training position with the AOC where he taught new employees the tricks of the trade. 

In 2015, Chris made the switch to the Operations department where he was recently promoted to Manager of Training and Innovation, a novel role that hadn't previously existed. The need for this position was huge, Chris said, because of all the rapid adoption of new technologies and the substantial training required for new hires.

"I started at the Airport as a dispatcher because I knew I wanted to help people. Throughout my entire career, my personality has led me to kinda always be in a training role," Chris said. "I found out I could be more helpful training people and it's something I've always enjoyed."

Just four months ago, Chris took on another role - one that still requires training, lots of hard work and waking up early - as a new father. 

When he's not spending time with baby Isaac or working, he uses his sparce spare time with his many hobbies, which include: cars, cooking, music, travel and photography - just to name a few. 

His favorite part about his job at TPA? The people. 

"I've been here 15 years and some of the best people I've ever met, I met here at the Airport."