Confessions of an airline baggage handler

[TomVexille]

I am sure there are. The airlines do not see this as a career path, baggage handler to pilot or air crew. Just mentioning when I was doing my license there were a few pilots doing CPL that worked at SYD to ensure they were handy if called up for interviews and to have their ear close to the ground for upcoming jobs etc. Johnny on the spot and all that. Maybe they also liked the smell of JetA1.

Totally agree. Already being part of the organization can give you that little leg up to actually getting a pilot gig. But by no means is it a defined career path. Then again, there are small operations like Buffalo Airways if Yellowknife where new pilots are put to work as baggage handlers until they prove their worth.

 

[prozac]

I understood that the baggage handlers were a contract company (or two).

 

[harvyk]

Supposed to have had a decent background check doesn't mean much. Some of the people hired at work recently can't do the most basic of things they were hired to do.

That's not the sort of background checks I mean...

The sort I'd imagine baggage handlers go through is the sort where you'd have people look into your background, ask friends and family questions about you, and basically make sure you both say you are who you say you are, and that you are trustworthy... This check doesn't care if they can do the job or not, just can they be trusted to do the job....

 

[prozac]

That's not the sort of background checks I mean...

The sort I'd imagine baggage handlers go through is the sort where you'd have people look into your background, ask friends and family questions about you, and basically make sure you both say you are who you say you are, and that you are trustworthy... This check doesn't care if they can do the job or not, just can they be trusted to do the job....

Baggage handlers, air crew, security officers and anyone else who requires frequent access to secure areas of the airport is required to have an ASIC. This is issued once AusCheck is satisfied the person is of suitable character to be in a secure area. It is not just an anti-terror check but one that reduces risk of interference to air operations.

An applicant is checked for any adverse criminal record. ASIO conduct a security assessment and Immigration do an unlawful non-citizen check.

If you have never been convicted of stealing and your name differs to the one you were given when you were on vacation with the Taliban, you're in.

 

[Sprucegoose]

When we fly QF SYD-BKK/NRT the priority tags virtually always work and bags out quickly.
But flying QF BKK/NRT-SYD the priority tags virtually never work.

The answer to that is simple.

Japanese efficiency versus the variability of Australian unionised businesses or Thai belligerence .....

 

[Robert K]

Well the baggage handlers are suppose to have had a pretty decent background check since they have direct access to aircraft. Plus in one of the cases where the baggage handler took money, how do you prove it wasn't theirs in the first place, and to an even more basic question, how would you even find the stolen money? Strip searched before and after each shift?

on the wire, drug houses make their workers work in underwear while bagging the white powder.

 

[NFF]

The biggest concern is to find illegal objects in your bag. I hope Pacsafe's puncture resistant ToughZip could prevent that. Combination locks are convenient however they can be unlocked if given enough time.

 

[harvyk]

The biggest concern is to find illegal objects in your bag. I hope Pacsafe's puncture resistant ToughZip could prevent that. Combination locks are convenient however they can be unlocked if given enough time.

Any lock can be unlocked given enough time... You can actually buy shivs which can be used to unlock a padlock in about 5 seconds flat (a person who is good with a shiv can get most padlocks open faster than a person with the key)...
The thing is though that there are still enough suitcases going down which have no security what so ever on them that are quick and easy to snoop around in, that the deterrent is enough in most cases.

As others have said, the big concern is not if they take something out, but if they put something in.

 

[kirstyoz]

Well the baggage handlers are suppose to have had a pretty decent background check since they have direct access to aircraft. Plus in one of the cases where the baggage handler took money, how do you prove it wasn't theirs in the first place, and to an even more basic question, how would you even find the stolen money? Strip searched before and after each shift?

Crim checks aren't a catch-all though - just because someone hasn't been caught for stealing (or other criminal offences) before doesn't mean they won't steal when they have a smorgasbord of other people's stuff in front of them. It's a huge opportunity which would tempt a lot of people into stealing because of the potential gains.

I totally agree though - they have huge security set ups at airports for 'safety' why not for property crime??? It couldn't cost the airlines more to ensure baggage handlers are properly searched before and after shifts, compared to the cost of the massive number of complaints/ claims etc they have to deal with because the baggage handlers aren't properly supervised.

 

[kirstyoz]

Besides, who searches the searchers? Look at how drugs get into prisons - via the prison officers.

I hear you in what you're saying... but as someone in the industry I can tell you most drugs get in other ways, corruption (at least in my State) is not the major entry point. There are always ways to have effective security and monitoring if you really want to, and it doesn't always have to be expensive.

 

[kirstyoz]

on the wire, drug houses make their workers work in underwear while bagging the white powder.

See that's what I was saying, effective measures don't need to be expensive.

 

[JohnK]

I thought this was interesting article.

Passenger films Air Canada baggage 'fail'

So you get paid to do a job and you can't be bothered to do your job properly because it would interfere with the socialising? What else could it possibly be?

 

[drivatruk]

I did ramp at Mel airport a 2 or so years back and didn't notice or hear about anyone stealing stuff. As i worked for a contractor the company is required to have last bag off the belt in X amount of minutes as one of the KPI's. That didn't leave a lot of time for case shopping. Did however quite often hear a buzzing sound coming from a case which was always quite amusing....

 

[arbo]

You've probably all seen this before, but even if you lock your case you are not protected


Open A Locked Suitcase With A Pen - YouTube

cheers,

 

[codash1099]

You've probably all seen this before, but even if you lock your case you are not protected


Open A Locked Suitcase With A Pen - YouTube

cheers,

That's a 5 year old video and I doubt it's that easy with good quality cases (I haven't tried it myself)

 

[Happy Trails]

I don't know how it is now, but in the good old days of 'Thiefrow' a locked bag was taken simply as an indication that it contained something worth stealing and provided no deterrence at all.

 

[joyvee]

My high security lock is an old fashioned nappy pin to keep the zipper tabs together. Where there is a will there is a way - may as well make it easy and obvious that I am not trying to protect my non valuable contents. JoyV

 

[NFF]

Do you know any hard to crack locks ?

 

[harvyk]

That's a 5 year old video and I doubt it's that easy with good quality cases (I haven't tried it myself)

How much are you willing to bet on that? Zip technology doesn't exactly change much between bags. The size of the teeth might change, but remember that regardless of any other factors a human needs to be able to move the zipper along the bag with relative easy, otherwise the whole notion of a zip doesn't work.

IMHO, once you hand your case over to the person at the check in counter, you've now lost all control over what happens to the contents of the case. Realistically it's only because the vast majority of baggage handlers are in fact honest hardworking people that your bag and it's contents make it to your destination.

A determined enough person will get into your bag, no matter how well it's locked. As such I always treat locks as something you do to protect your bag from accidentally coming open, since a determined enough person will get in.

Of course the other deterrent with locks is if a would be thief has a choice between two bags, say yours and one other, they will no doubt go for the easiest to get into / the one which looks like it would have the most valuables. Your lock does not need to make your bag secure, it just needs to make it look more secure than everyone elses bag.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I did ramp at Mel airport a 2 or so years back and didn't notice or hear about anyone stealing stuff. As i worked for a contractor the company is required to have last bag off the belt in X amount of minutes as one of the KPI's. That didn't leave a lot of time for case shopping. Did however quite often hear a buzzing sound coming from a case which was always quite amusing....

Would that have been an electric ......




Toothbrush?