The Call for Professional Bag Handlers at Alaska Airlines

I remember flying after Alaska Airlines after they fired their baggage handlers, looking out the aisle window, and seeing a young replacement worker wearing a pair of Nikes, baseball cap, and no gloves. I thought, “man, someone is going to get hurt.” I was less concerned about the slow downs, late flights, and generally pissed off flight crews in surly moods. It was a bad summer for Alaska Airlines. An airline I preferred to fly, had fallen into a “hated” status by it’s employees and customers. When I read about an Alaska Airlines jet that lost cabin pressure at 26,000 feet because of a foot-long gash in its fuselage caused by a baggage truck that struck it, I remember that kid out there loading baggage with no safety gear and presumably no safety concern.

In a follow-up article, the Seattle-PI reports that Alaska Airlines has had 13 ramp incidents from January to November and it was discovered by a King5 investigative report, that they’ve been under-reporting the incidents.

When Jeremy Hermann blogged his experience on that flight, he tapped into the fear, frustration, and loathing Alaska’s customer’s are feeling and a flood of comments came in, with many calling for Alaska Airlines to use professional baggage handlers and not replacement workers. I agree with Glenn Fleishman who commented that, “I can’t wait for the Alaska execs, after paying the many millions of dollars out for this accident in legal fees and repair costs, rehires their regular baggage carriers and explains what a mistake it was to outsource.”

Jeremy’s post also apparently recieved comments from angry Alaska Airline workers and no official response. That topic is being debated in the blogosphere, including a post by Dave Taylor.