Frontline Faces: Tony D'Aiuto, AOC Manager of Training & Compliance

On March 2, TPA’s Airport Operations Center Training & Compliance Manager Tony D’Aiuto welcomed his second AOC Training Academy class since launching the innovative new-hire program last year.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of daily life, creating big changes throughout his life, including in the AOC as the dispatchers, supervisors and trainees tried to shift and balance schedules to create distancing and backup teams. But the Training Academy moved forward, along with the entire AOC team learning a new CAD system.

“There was a period when we were adapting to the coronavirus where I and a handful of others were working from home,” Tony said. “It was interesting. One of the things I learned is it is not easy to lead a group of individuals who are essential from home. I came back and now I feel better connected with my team.”

On top of learning new ways to adapt to working during a pandemic, Tony is also learning to be a father. He and his wife, Heather Lash – who also works at TPA is an Airport Credentials Specialist – welcomed baby girl Ophelia 14 months ago. As essential workers, they both do everything they can to keep their surroundings clean and sanitized and avoid spreading or contracting germs.

“To the credit of our people in the AOC, we’ve been practicing this behavior since before it became popular,” Tony said. “They’re used to disinfecting shared workstations and dousing everything in alcohol. Our people were better prepared than most. We just limited the amount of movement and added masks.”