SriLankan honours finest achievers among staff

SriLankan Airlines celebrated the achievements of its finest staff for the year 2006/07 at a gala ‘Achievers Night’ at the Cinnamon Grand recently.

Peter Hill, CEO of SriLankan, said: “These are the people who are the cornerstone of this airline. They have gone that extra mile, not just once but time and again, facing much adversity and overcoming challenges. It is they and others like them among our staff who make SriLankan Airlines so special.”

Christie Fernando, Properties Manager (Projects & Planning) received the Gold Award for Achiever of the Year for his extraordinary handling of the reconstruction of Al Bahariya Maha Vidyalaya. The Tsunami-ravaged school of 1,500 students in Kalmunai was rebuilt in a Rs. 75 million project by SriLankan Cares, the charity arm of the airline, with assistance from the National Carrier’s partners Lufthansa Technik and HelpAlliance.

“We at SriLankan believe in teamwork, and this award honours the efforts of the entire team at the airline which worked so hard on the reconstruction of the school,” said Fernando.

Silver Awards were presented to K.A.D. Wijesiri, Senior Plant & Equipment Supervisor, and H.K.P.J. Gunasekera, Senior Ramp Serviceman. Wijesiri achieved considerable cost savings for the company through in-house fabrication of testing equipment for fuel injectors in vehicles. Gunasekera was honoured for his talent and hard work in fabricating various items for company activities purely through his own ideas and creations. The Gold Award for Best Country went to Qatar, with Malaysia receiving the Silver and the Maldives the Bronze. Stations were judged on overall performance which included passenger and cargo revenue, airport service, aircraft engineering activities, and financial performance.

M.R.R.S Mawella, Senior Security Assistant, received the Sportsperson of the Year Award for his performances in athletics and soccer. He set three National Records in High Jump and 100 Metres (Veterans), while winning a Silver medal at the Asian Athletic Masters in Bangalore and numerous medals at the Mercantile and Club levels.