Air Canada investigating luggage toss caught on video

[J529]

Cue the "they're underpaid" and rational excuse. If anything expensive was damaged or ruined the employee should be paying for damages, not to mention that person needs to be dealt with swiftly.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/air-canada-investigating-luggage-toss-caught-on-video-1.2615272

Air Canada says it is investigating after a video that appears to show its baggage handlers dropping items from a tall staircase circulated on the internet.

The short video was shot on Thursday by Dwayne Stewart of Vancouver while he was waiting to fly home on Flight AC137 from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.

Stewart told CBC News the flight was crowded and, because the storage bins in the cabin were full, some passengers had to check their carry-on luggage at the gate.

Stewart said his seatmate then pointed out what was happening outside.

“The gate check, unfortunately, turned into a gate toss,” Stewart said.

The video runs a little over a minute and shows a baggage handler dropping items from the top of a movable staircase into a bin, which a second handler then moves into a nearby vehicle. The staircase looks to be about six metres high.

“We were so shocked we had to laugh ... it looked comical, it looked like it wasn’t real,” said Stewart. This was luggage people brought on the aircraft with the expectation they were going to hang on to it. When I do that I know I put valuable things in my luggage. I might have a camera. I might have gifts for my kids,” he added. Stewart said he flies on Air Canada “every other week.”

Stewart posted the video on YouTube, after which it quickly circulated.

Airline 'extremely disappointed'

Air Canada said in a statement, and in a comment on YouTube, it is "extremely disappointed" by the video.

"This clearly goes against our standard baggage handling procedures which dictates that gate-checked bags are to be hand carried down to the ramp,” the airline said. “An investigation into this has been launched."

The airline also followed up on Twitter after Stewart’s friend and seatmate tweeted the video.

Stewart said he feels bad for the baggage handlers because they were in a difficult position — "walking dozens of bags down a steep staircase" — that required more staff or better equipment.

He said he was told gate-checked baggage is usually sent down chutes.

"They [were] looking for the faster, most efficient solution,” he said. “I understand why they would do that, from a workplace safety point of view, but that doesn't help passengers whose baggage they don't want to have treated in that fashion."

Stewart added that his own bags had remained in the cabin.

Darren @drvanslyke

Wow. Just witnessed @AirCanada bag handlers throwing excess carry-ons from top of 777 bridge to hose storage below. At least 20' down.

Air Canada ✔ @AirCanada Follow

@drvanslyke hi Darren, what flight # is this? We'll investigate this matter in-depth. /km

[DefCon1]

So thats what these idiots do to cause damage on my expensive luggage. Either one of the wheel gets broken or there is a big dent on the side. These people need to be fired for the way they handle other people's belongings.

[Rounoush]

So thats what these idiots do to cause damage on my expensive luggage. Either one of the wheel gets broken or there is a big dent on the side. These people need to be fired for the way they handle other people's belongings.

[smith80]

That's my brother-in-law taking the video.

[Del Rio]

I know a lot of people that work in the airport doing baggage, and they all tell me bags just get tossed around like nothing. They don't give a crap about your bags. Bags being dropped from that high is so common.

[Del Rio]

So thats what these idiots do to cause damage on my expensive luggage. Either one of the wheel gets broken or there is a big dent on the side. These people need to be fired for the way they handle other people's belongings.

And the next person they hire won't give a crap about your bags either. They don't make great money at all and it's physical work, not anyone can do it.

[BanTSN]

Insignificant.

[250Integra]

And the next person they hire won't give a crap about your bags either. They don't make great money at all and it's physical work, not anyone can do it.

Or, they're lazy and have no integrity. That's probably why they're stuck with that job as it reflects on their work ethic.

Some may call it "smart", but that is plain stupid.

[DefCon1]

And the next person they hire won't give a crap about your bags either. They don't make great money at all and it's physical work, not anyone can do it.

Then why do they do it? Maybe they should work somewhere that doesn't require you to be physically fit. I guess all those kids flipping burgers in McDonalds also have the right to spit on your burger since they don't make great money at all. Most physical labours don't pay much at all. It costs the airlines lots of money when the customers try to claim for the damage done on their luggage plus it is a hassle for travellers to take some time just to claim for the damage and bring the luggage for repairs.

[DefCon1]

Or, they're lazy and have no integrity. That's probably why they're stuck with that job as it reflects on their work ethic.

Some may call it "smart", but that is plain stupid.

There are a lot of stupid people in this world. This video just shows one of the examples.

[drummer4now]

Then why do they do it? Maybe they should work somewhere that doesn't require you to be physically fit. I guess all those kids flipping burgers in McDonalds also have the right to spit on your burger since they don't make great money at all. Most physical labours don't pay much at all. It costs the airlines lots of money when the customers try to claim for the damage done on their luggage plus it is a hassle for travellers to take some time just to claim for the damage and bring the luggage for repairs.

Good points. I think the airline is faulty as well. There should be some sort of slide or ramp that makes it quicker for them to move the luggage from the stairs. I can see why they drop them because if they went down each time it would take forever.. and many of the luggage items seem to be quite heavy. Hopefully now the airline will develop a solution to the problem

[Toni Zamboni]

if you could secretly watch what goes on in the kitchens of all the restaurants and fast food joints...you wouldnt wanna eat out anymore.

[Del Rio]

Then why do they do it? Maybe they should work somewhere that doesn't require you to be physically fit. I guess all those kids flipping burgers in McDonalds also have the right to spit on your burger since they don't make great money at all. Most physical labours don't pay much at all. It costs the airlines lots of money when the customers try to claim for the damage done on their luggage plus it is a hassle for travellers to take some time just to claim for the damage and bring the luggage for repairs.

No education required, straight forward work. They hire any idiot that can do the job physically, most are young people out of high school. All I'm saying these guys really don't give a crap about your suitcase, to handle it with care.

Kids flipping burgers don't have the right to spit in your food, but if they do what you gonna do about it? You go work there then. If I worked at Mcdonald's I wouldn't do that, but I really wouldn't give a crap about your food or if I mess up your order. Get realistic man.

[drummer4now]

No education required, straight forward work. They hire any idiot that can do the job physically, most are young people out of high school. All I'm saying these guys really don't give a crap about your suitcase, to handle it with care.

Kids flipping burgers don't have the right to spit in your food, but if they do what you gonna do about it? You go work there then. If I worked at Mcdonald's I wouldn't do that, but I really wouldn't give a crap about your food or if I mess up your order. Get realistic man.

Thats customer service for yeah..I guess this could be a reason for the rise of foreign workers.. Cheap reliable labour. Its why companies love/take advantage of them because they know the workers have no other options of employment. Often times these workers show a little but more care because they know they could easily be replaced and there is no plan b, as opposed to some high schooler.

[That's What She Said]

Can't see the video, but ehhh, I expect my luggage to be tossed around. Throwing it down from 6m up might be a bit excessive but I don't really expect baggage handlers to be handling heavy suitcases of what, 200+ passengers? with care. Plus if they take too long then people are gonna complain about the waiting time for the baggage claim.

[Offensive Threat]

Why we try to only take carry on with us. unless we are bringing scuba or camping gear we just do carry on.

I knew a guy who worked for Air Canada tossing luggage for 8 years before he got a back injury and had to quit. He had stories about bags getting completely destroyed. Run over. crushed etc. He never got paid very much there. All you needed for that job was to be able to speak English and lift 40 lbs. Thats it.

[goalie13]

Can't see the video, but ehhh, I expect my luggage to be tossed around. Throwing it down from 6m up might be a bit excessive but I don't really expect baggage handlers to be handling heavy suitcases of what, 200+ passengers? with care. Plus if they take too long then people are gonna complain about the waiting time for the baggage claim.

I expect my checked baggage to be tossed around, but these were people's carry-on bags. I pack things I don't want tossed around in my carry-on just to keep it safe.

Part of the blame here goes to the airline. In the last few years, in an attempt to squeeze every last dollar out of you, they have lowered baggage limits and increased fees. To avoid the fees, people now try to jam everything in their carry-on. The cabin isn't designed to carry that much luggage. That's why you get situations like this where there's too much baggage in the cabin and a bunch of it has to be transferred to the belly.

They should have seen this coming.

[red&white]

I used to be a baggage handler for a couple years just after I graduated high school. All your checked luggage at YVR gets this same treatment. After your bag has traveled through the network of belts, it finally gets a pretty hard kick from a hydraulic ram which punts it down a 10-12 chute where it would come tumbling down to the baggage handlers awaiting to put it into it's container or cart to go to the aircraft. From what I've seen in my 2 years working there, those hydraulic rams were more responsible for baggage damage than anything.

That being said, people usually pack their fragile items in their carry on bags. Dropping those bags from that height, especially in full view of passengers was not a smart decision. I imagine this type of thing will happen more often though as airlines try to reduce turn around times of aircraft and too many dips--ts try to fill two overhead bins worth of carry on luggage.

[themcdeal]

this is reassuring

flying with air canada tomorrow...

now I feel the need to bubble wrap some of my belongings

[Captain Aerosex]

this is reassuring

flying with air canada tomorrow...

now I feel the need to bubble wrap some of my belongings

I don't know, I feel like now is the time you can have the most faith that your belongings will be handled with care. With this thing blowing up, everybody (employers and customers) will be watching trying to see employees do this kinda crap.

Once the uproar dies down, then the careless treatment of luggage will continue.