As Chief Experience Officer reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, Barbara Yamamoto leads a customer service culture change that fosters a hospitality mindset and an exceptional guest experience ethic amongst... all who work and do business at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). With the goal of creating “LAXceptional Xperiences,” Yamamoto and the LAX team strive to make guest visits efficient, hospitable and memorable by providing world-class facilities and services that showcase the ambiance and excitement of Los Angeles and the lifestyle of sunny Southern California. She has spearheaded a strategic guest experience approach for Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and the LAX community.
Key guest experience management tools include: projects to enhance guest experiences that showcase innovation and technology, guest satisfaction surveys, service standards, guest experience training, mystery shopping, rewards and recognition programs, and collaborative guest experience councils.
She has managed LAX’s Guest Services Division which includes guest experience members, volunteers and therapy dogs, all stationed in the terminals assisting guests and providing exceptional experiences.
Yamamoto also held the position of Ethics Officer from 2005 to 2008, responsible for developing and managing the agency’s first Office of Ethics and Business Conduct and overseeing an effort to promote a positive, ethical work environment for all employees.
Prior to her appointment as Ethics Officer, Yamamoto served as LAX Community Relations Director for five years, developing and implementing community relations programs designed to enhance communications with the surrounding airport communities.
Yamamoto’s vast work experience in the public sector began in 1987, serving with the City of Los Angeles at all three proprietary departments: Harbor, Water and Power and LAWA.
In addition, she has been an adjunct professor at Loyola Marymount University since 2012 instructing a public relations writing course.
She has a Master of Arts degree in journalism/public relations from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Yamamoto and her husband reside in Torrance and together, they have five fabulous children and three not-so-fabulous cats.
