A Letter written by Nick's Brother Jasonby Sharon Taylor on Thursday, November 3, 2011 at 9:25pm
To Doug Park and the Entire U.S. Airways Family
I wanted to thank all of you for making sure my brother was taken care of and being there to help my family through this. Nick truly loved his job. He was very talented at many things and he had a great personality. He could have worked anywhere but he loved what he did. He never had anything but great things to say about his job and the people he worked with. After all of this I see why. I have never seen such a show of camaraderie and compassion. People came out from everywhere to help and to offer support. I must especially thank Mr. Park for allowing the crew of U.S. Airways the authority and freedom to step in and help at every level. You are all lucky to work for such a great company that takes care of its people in a time of need. It is at these times a company shows what it is truly made of. I think so much has been done by U.S. Airways and others that I am compelled to share. I have been amazed by the care and detail that has been put into getting Nick home and making sure that he is remembered in a special way. To do this required the help of several organizations and people. I would like to thank them and to acknowledge them in this letter. To do this, I will share a quick timeline of events and the involvement of some along the way:
On Saturday, at around 8:30am I was notified by Deborah Thompson from U.S. Airways of the Nicks death. She was unable to share any details but promised to keep us informed as information came in and offered to do whatever she could. She did and during one of our conversations I shared that my passport had expired.
At around 10:30am an FBI agent contacted me to share the truth of the situation. He was unable to give many details but shared what he could. He shared that he was at the hotel with Nick and that he would do his best to catch the killer.
Later that day I got a call about my passport and was asked to go to the federal building in Los Angeles to get a new one. Getting a passport in two hours on a Saturday is no easy task. This was all put together by the communication of U.S. Airways and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico. I got my passport and was told that U.S. Airways would fly me and another out to take care of the details of having Nick released to come home. Because of the complications that we knew could be ahead of us we chose Herald Snyder (Community Funeral Services) a funeral director we used for my father many years ago to accompany me. This was a good choice and his expertise helped expedite things and allowed for the best choices to be made along the way.
At 2:30 am the next morning I got a call from the same FBI agent I spoke with earlier telling me that they had arrested the person they felt to be Nick’s killer. I thanked him for the call and then after thinking about it for a second realized that this man had been going all day to find my brothers killer and that he didn’t stop until he did. They caught this guy within twenty hours of finding my brother. It would also be naive to think that the Mexican police did not have a large role in catching this man and I thank them too.
On Sunday I flew out of California and landed in Arizona where I was met by several of Nick’s co-workers and various managers from different departments who went out of their way to make sure our trip was as hassle free and as comfortable as possible. While here, several of Nicks coworkers lined up on two occasions to share their sorrow for Nick. It was truly moving and gave me my first glimpse of Nick’s extended family.
Once we arrived late that Night in Mexico City we were met by another U.S Airways employee Beatriz Gonzalez. Beatriz drove us to our hotel that U.S. Airways had arranged. She informed us that she would be taking us everywhere we needed to go the next day and that some arrangements had already been made. The next morning Beatriz met us along with another coworker Jesus. Beatriz then informed us that she had already worked some things out between all the various parties and that some things had been simplified. At our first stop we were also met by Fernando Munoz who works for the U.S. Embassy. He told us that he would be with us the entire day and that he would help translate and help with any problems we might have. As you can imagine getting Nick home was very challenging. Our goal was to get Nick home as quick as possible. Due to all the help we received we were able to get Nicks body released late Monday evening. I believe without the help mentioned I would still be working on this today. During my time with Beatriz and Jesus I felt they really cared. This was a very long day and at no point did I feel they had something better to do. They continually offered their support in any way possible. At the end of the day we were comfortable with what we had accomplished. All we needed to do now was to fly Nick home. At this time there was nothing left we could do in Mexico. Jesus promised to stay on top of things and to make sure that Nick would be on a plane Wednesday. At 4am on Tuesday, Beatriz picked us up at the hotel and drove us to the airport.
Later that day we arrived in Phoenix and were met by several more of Nick’s friends and coworkers. Here I also met my sister who U.S. Airways arranged to have flown out from Hawaii. On my sisters flight she was also accompanied by Adrian, a U.S. Airways employee and a good friend of my brothers. He flew from Arizona to Hawaii to meet her and to accompany her home. He didn’t want her to have to fly alone. We spent some time talking and then boarded our last plane home to California. As we were arriving home, Hector Alder the vice president of in-flight service was on another plane to Mexico City where he would board the plane that would fly Nick back home the following day.
As many of you know when Nick did arrive in Arizona he was met by an amazing ceremony. Nick would have loved this. It was truly first class and something that will never be forgotten. At the conclusion of this ceremony four of Nick’s friends and co-workers flew with him to Los Angeles where we were waiting. U.S. Airways had arranged for a car to pick us up that evening and to take us to the airport so we could be waiting for Nick as he exited the plane. Many of his coworkers and friends were also there waiting for him. Special arrangements had been made that allowed us down on to the tarmac to allow us to be closer to Nick as he was taken off the plane. This was a very special moment and it was done beautifully.
Funeral Service plans have been set for Saturday and U.S. Airways has been amazing in helping to coordinate and plan this. They are even flying his Godmother out from Spain to be here for the service. Nick always loved to be the star of the show. Rest assured, your company has made sure that Nick’s last show will be one never forgotten.
Thank you again to everyone for their help and support. Acts of GREAT kindness, compassion and selflessness are so rare these days that I felt the need to share what a major positive role your company has played over the last several days.
Thank You
Jason Aaronson
This was posted on facebook. Thought it would be nice to share.
