Air Canada will fire luggage-tossing employees
Posted Apr 21, 2014 4:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Air Canada says two baggage handlers appearing in a video that shows luggage being dropped from roughly six metres have been suspended and will lose their jobs.
Spokeswoman Angela Mah says the employees have been told “their employment will be terminated pending the outcome of our investigation.”
The airline has apologized for what it calls the “totally unacceptable mishandling of our passengers’ baggage captured on video.”
The video, taken by a passenger on board a plane, shows baggage being dropped from a boarding gate to a luggage bin on the ground.
Watch his video below:
The video posted April 18 on YouTube is titled How Air Canada Handles Your Baggage and has stirred backlash against the company.
Bill Trbovich, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said when there’s no more room for carry-on luggage inside a plane, handlers are forced to take the rest outside in a rush to be stowed elsewhere so the flight isn’t delayed.
But the stairs up to the plane are so steep, it would be dangerous to hurry down, Trbovich said.
Meanwhile, “management is pushing them to get the planes out on time,” he said.
Some have come to the airline’s defence, saying it shouldn’t be judged by one incident.
Trbovich said it’s not yet known whether the union will file a grievance.
But he stressed the airline could help prevent such incidents by enforcing its own carry-on restrictions.
Employees are also under increased scrutiny now that everyone can shoot photos and video on their phone, and it’s not enough to just do your job safely and to the best of your abilities, he said.
“You’re constantly looking over your shoulder,” he said.
“You go about your business trying to do your job and you’ve got to be cognizant of where you are to make sure you don’t hurt yourself or fall down or something, and to worry about whether somebody’s taking your picture through an airplane window.”
The Vancouver-bound plane was leaving Toronto on Friday.
At the time, Air Canada said it was “extremely disappointed” and that an investigation would be launched.
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