Why do baggage handlers throw baggage?

[Ash]

I'd suggest a throw would take less time then to gently place such bag.

A little less time, considerably more effort

 

[Deleted member 71772]

Not that I fly often, but occassionally while waiting for a domestic flight (maybe once a year) I get to watch luggage being loaded or unloaded. The baggage handlers seem to put extra effort into throwing the bags onto the trolley or onto the conveyor. Wouldn't take less effort to just place the bags gently?

I've seen exactly the same, throwing into the air. Its as if they are deliberately trying to damage the bags.

 

[Deleted member 71772]

Presumably you're a white collar worker that does not have to lift hundreds of bags that weigh 20 - 32Kg all day. I'm quite sure the baggage handlers are doing whatever is best for the protection of their back. If that involves dropping or throwing your luggage so be it.

If that was the case I would fully understand but in the instances I have witnessed, the bag could easily have been placed on the conveyor without the need to toss a further metre.

 

[Stealthflyer]

The domestic Melbourne VA lounge is great for watching the luggage handlers at work. Last week we watched as a bag started to slip off the pile and one of the handlers did the most incredible acrobatic (but not very ergonomically sound) move to catch it before it hit the tarmac. Yes, these VA handlers toss the bags, but it’s incredible how they manage to get them lined up just so almost every time.

I don’t know about you but if I gave baggage handling a go, I’d last about 5 minutes on the job before I’d have to limp off to the physiotherapist.

 

[barrj46]

Not quite on point, but I did witness an interesting event in Perth some years ago whilst awaiting my flight. I was standing watching a Jetstar flight having baggage offloaded. When the trolley's were full, as the driver took a left turn around the aircraft on the way to unloading, one of the bags fell off the trolley and landed on the tarmac. The driver was unaware and the baggage handlers who were by now loading baggage onto the aircraft for the next flight were also unaware. A short time later, another vehicle drove up and seeing the bag on the tarmac, putting 2 +2 together and arriving at a calculation of 5, took the bag to the handlers, who threw it onto the trolley with the other luggage. The flight was bound for Bali, and it would have been interesting to ascertain if the owner of the bag ever managed to have it located and returned to them.

 

[nonscenic]

Flying with baggage through CAN (Guangzhou) from experience has been traumatic on our bags. My wife had a suitcase wheel ripped off once, presumably on the conveyor systems and another time one of our suitcases arrived after an internal Chinese flight with hastily repaired tape all over one side of the suitcase.
Not only handling but non handling can have its hazards. We checked in once on an IGU - AEP flight in Argentina and when opening our suitcases in a Buenos Aires hotel afterwards discovered that our suitcases must have been left on the trolley on the tarmac prior to loading as a torrential tropical thunderstorm had passed over and delayed our boarding, our clothes were wet through. Fortunately we had plastic bags around other items that would otherwise have been ruined.

 

[Ash]

Not quite on point, but I did witness an interesting event in Perth some years ago whilst awaiting my flight. I was standing watching a Jetstar flight having baggage offloaded. When the trolley's were full, as the driver took a left turn around the aircraft on the way to unloading, one of the bags fell off the trolley and landed on the tarmac. The driver was unaware and the baggage handlers who were by now loading baggage onto the aircraft for the next flight were also unaware. A short time later, another vehicle drove up and seeing the bag on the tarmac, putting 2 +2 together and arriving at a calculation of 5, took the bag to the handlers, who threw it onto the trolley with the other luggage. The flight was bound for Bali, and it would have been interesting to ascertain if the owner of the bag ever managed to have it located and returned to them.

That’s why your bags are tagged. If ‘ole mate had have looked at the tags 2+2 would have made 4 rather than 5 and all would have been fine

 

[Jambo]

I suspect it has a lot to do with selection criteria for these roles and the management who oversee them. It is sad to say that having a bit of respect for passenger's luggage does not appear to be a KPI, and great customer service or empathy skills do not seem to be a hiring consideration either.

Well at least they make it onto the plane. While sitting in my seat two weeks ago, looking out the window I saw my suitcase on the tarmac and had to alert the flight attendant that it was in danger of being left behind or maybe squashed!

 

[GlennT]

I heard that at least one major airport this was regularly the first job after leaving prison, or on parole, for many.

 

[Ekka]

I'd suggest a throw would take less time then to gently place such bag.

As a broken infinitive is easier? Not really.

Post automatically merged: Mar 4, 2020

When you make it a non-negotiable part of the culture, excuses about time and cost don't fly

What on earth is that supposed to mean?

 

[33kft]

What on earth is that supposed to mean?

It means that in some cultures, it's not acceptable to explain away a lack of etiquette by claiming it would be too expensive or inconvenient to implement

Have a think about some of the societal expectations we have, like being able to talk (preferrentially) or otherwise contact someone after we purchase goods and services. It's not strictly necessary, and some companies don't offer a direct form of contact, but this is frowned upon and would cause consumers to avoid dealing with such a business. Some cultures consider showing some respect to customers as one of those non-negotiable mechanisms, invalidating the arguments made previously about cost and time. If they can do it, it follows logically that others can too, but choose not to.

 

[DC3]

When you make it a non-negotiable part of the culture, excuses about time and cost don't fly

Are you sure that this isn’t a cut and paste from a government letter?

 

[Ekka]

It very much sounds like it.
Not many commas, and an enormous amount of young-person gobbledegook.
Must do better.

 

[33kft]

Not much I can do about the failure of others to comprehend a simple statement

Edit; I actually edited this to make it simpler, for fear of this continuing

 

[radamspse]

Not that I fly often, but occassionally while waiting for a domestic flight (maybe once a year) I get to watch luggage being loaded or unloaded. The baggage handlers seem to put extra effort into throwing the bags onto the trolley or onto the conveyor. Wouldn't take less effort to just place the bags gently?

That's the reason I only fly with carry-on!!!!

 

[nutwood]

Without defending some of the atrocious behaviour I've witnessed, I think it's fair to say that a certain amount of throwing would make the job quicker and easier.
Use the lifting action to impart some horizontal momentum, provide a bit of guidance as to direction, let go and move on to the next bag. The alternative, is pick up, support the weight until at destination, then put down.
The critical thing is that whilst your bag is "flying" through the air, it's not really having to be supported, so the handler doesn't have to be as correctly positioned. Anyone travelling with a heavy bag does the same thing at check-in. They can heft the bag on to the scales without too much difficulty but it's not so easy to reach over and lift it back!

 

[Ekka]

Not much I can do about the failure of others to comprehend a simple statement

Edit; I actually edited this to make it simpler, for fear of this continuing

Perhaps you could answer DC3's original question, instead of avoiding the question.
.

 

[Chief Wiggum]

I think these guys would get a gig as baggage handlers for sure... could probably teach the course even. I took this video last year in Sulawesi. Those boxes have chocolate biscuits inside.... or what were originally chocolate biscuits... presumably, they arrive out to the islands as more of a cookie-crumble

I've been lucky with checked luggage over the years for damage. My strangest baggage tale from recent times was sitting on the plane in BNE, looking out the window just as my case happened to be going up the ramp and into the plane. Snapped a pic just for fun. Watching it get loaded. Then getting to NOU and being told... "Your case did not arrive...". True to their word... it did not arrive indeed. Somehow case was pulled off the plane in BNE, and sent BNE to SYD, to arrive in NOU 2 days later. Thanks QF

 

[The man with no name]

The domestic Melbourne VA lounge is great for watching the luggage handlers at work. Last week we watched as a bag started to slip off the pile and one of the handlers did the most incredible acrobatic (but not very ergonomically sound) move to catch it before it hit the tarmac. Yes, these VA handlers toss the bags, but it’s incredible how they manage to get them lined up just so almost every time.

I don’t know about you but if I gave baggage handling a go, I’d last about 5 minutes on the job before I’d have to limp off to the physiotherapist.

Totally agree with you.

I've done the same thing from the same lounge on many occasions and have nothing but gratitude for the tough job those guys do.

The comments from other posters about the baggage handlers in Japan and the "respect" their baggage handlers show made me laugh out loud. I was in Japan in February and never saw anything of the kind on my 4 flights nor on the numerous other trips to Japan in recent years. All the handles facing out?!? Seriously?

Naturally their can be bad eggs in any company but overall I believe the overwhelming majority of baggage handlers do a fantastic job.

 

[The man with no name]

If that was the case I would fully understand but in the instances I have witnessed, the bag could easily have been placed on the conveyor without the need to toss a further metre.

And from the distance of your observation you knew how much the particular bag weighed?