With more than a decade of experience, SFO Station Operations Center Manager Krisha Quismorio constantly goes above and beyond for her team.
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Quismorio was brought up by first-generation immigrant parents from the Philippines, and she credits them for her strong work ethic. She grew up watching her mom go to school, work, and raise three kids at the same time, as well as watching her dad work two jobs that had him away from home for 16 to 20 hours a day in order to support the family. “He selflessly pushed himself to his limits,” she says, “and continues to try to be generous to others.”
One of her dad’s jobs was working at United in bag-gage room maintenance at San Francisco International Airport, which gave Quismorio the travel bug. In 2012, while working toward her bachelor’s degree at San Francisco State University, she applied to be a ramp agent at United along with her brother, Brandon. Quismorio con-fesses she had no idea what the job would entail.
“My brother and I were hired on the same day and commuted back and forth with each other during training,” she says. “We would test each other with airport code flashcards over breakfast.”
During her five years on the ramp, Quismorio noticed there were very few women working alongside her. She says this added extra pressure, and she felt she had to prove herself by always working hard in the cargo pit. The lack of representation in the industry, though, wasn’t new to her.
“As a young girl, I was limited in seeing representation of people that looked like me on TV, in the media, as well as in positions of power,” Quismorio says. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion have always been very important to me, and I’ve always been very proud to be part of representing women, my culture, and people of color in a professional workspace.”
After five years on the ramp, Quismorio was ready to learn more about airport operations as a whole. For the next five years, she worked as a zone controller and then as a gate manager in the Station Operations Center (SOC). Then, she took on a new challenge as SOC Manager, her current role.
“When I first started in the SOC, learning how to be a zone supervisor was incredibly challenging,” she says. “It’s a very fast-paced and complex position. I felt completely out of my league and wasn’t sure if I should stay.”
She had a guiding light, however, in Airport Operations Premium Services Supervisor Terry Ross, her colleague at the time.
“[Terry] gave me a pep talk I would never forget: ‘Learning something new is always tough and will be met with some setbacks and failures. But what is important is your ability to keep going, shake things off, and keep learning,’” Quismorio recalls. “‘If I can do it, anyone can,’ she told me, and now I tell those exact words to less-seasoned zone managers struggling with confidence in their work.”
After more than a decade at United, Quismorio has had no shortage of what she likes to call “SOC Ted Talks,” whether she’s the one sharing or on the receiving end of good advice. Five of her six direct reports are women, and while almost all of them have more seniority, they are constantly guiding each other through professional and personal challenges. “Though I may coach within operations,” she says, “there are always opportunities where all of us can learn from and support each other.”
Quismorio is proud to work at United for so many reasons: the fierce population of women she works alongside in the SOC, particularly women of color; the camaraderie among her colleagues; and the feeling of having a second family, especially following the recent death of her brother, Brandon. The outpouring of love and support she and her family received is something she’ll never forget.
“During my time at United, aside from traveling with my loved ones to places that some people can only dream of, I’ve truly made some lifelong friends—or, rather, chosen family,” she says. “They have such a special place in my heart.”
