TSU students help welcome the world at Houston Airports

For the first time, students from Texas Southern University are serving as Volunteer Ambassadors at Houston Airports, stepping out of the classroom and into one of the most dynamic learning environments in aviation — the airport itself.

Spread across terminals at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), the students are helping travelers navigate terminals, answering questions at information counters and offering the kind of hospitality that can shape a passenger’s first impression of Houston.

For Ella Ghica, manager of volunteer initiatives for Houston Airports, the pilot partnership is about far more than volunteer hours. “We are preparing our future workforce,” Ghica said. “It’s our future operations managers. It’s our new pilots. You name it.”

The partnership, launched last fall as part of a pilot program with students from TSU’s aviation program, integrates service learning into real airport operations. Students volunteer four hours a week, 16 hours a month, for at least six months, gaining exposure to the rhythms and demands of a global airport while still in school.

For some, that exposure is already changing career paths.

Ghica recalled one student who arrived thinking he wanted to become a cargo pilot, then changed course after spending time with an air traffic controller mentor.

“That’s what this experience can do,” she said. “They can actually see the needs of the airport and how they can impact the future of airports.” That hands-on exposure, she said, offers something textbooks alone cannot. Airports, after all, are classrooms of their own.

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Students in the program have served during the irregular operations, airline transitions and severe weather events, gaining experience during moments that tested operations and customer service. Some have also spent time with Houston Airports leadership, including Director of Aviation Jim Szczesniak and Chief Operating Officer Kelly Woodward, getting a broader view of what aviation careers can look like. But perhaps the strongest lessons have come through service.

Ghica lit up, recounting a passenger interaction with a confused traveler who needed help navigating the terminals. A student ambassador did not simply point the passenger in the right direction. “He said, ‘I’m going to come with you, ma’am. I’m going to take you there myself,” Ghica recalled. The passenger’s reaction, she said, was priceless.

“When people come to the airport and see our employees in our signature orange polo shirts, they may not realize some of those helping them are volunteers,” Ghica said. “People cannot tell the difference between the service they receive from a paid employee or a volunteer,” she said. “It’s first class.”

For Houston Airports, the program also deepens a growing relationship with TSU and strengthens a workforce pipeline at a time when aviation faces long-term talent needs.

For the students, it offers something equally powerful: belonging. One student showed up to interview for the volunteer role in a suit. “They’re taking this opportunity seriously,” she said.

The pilot program is expected to continue through the FIFA World Cup and expand in the fall. She sees growth ahead. But she also sees something bigger.

“My wildest dream is for a student to go from an airport volunteer to an airport CEO one day.”

And maybe that is the point.

Sometimes the path into aviation doesn’t begin in a cockpit or classroom. Sometimes the journey starts by helping a passenger find the right terminal.