Flying Overseas: What do they do with your Luggage?
The Covid-19 era is coming to a close. The days when it influenced our day-to-day lives are but a distant memory. It still is a recurring dilemma, and there are still chances of getting infected, but the effects that it had on our lives, with distance learning, virtual work, etc. will fade into nothing but bad (or good) memories.
On the other hand, Christmas is coming near. The holiday season, inexorably, with Mariah Carey on repeat 24/7 in every public space within the bounds of civilization. I’m sure many of our itineraries are packed; for many of us, we shall board our first flight in years, wherever it may be, with knobbly knees, and the experience lost to us!
But with all the pleasures of travelling, come the dangers of travelling. Intercontinental flight is fraught with many dangers. Is it the potential crashes? No. It is statistically likelier to get killed driving to the airport than the plane crashing. Flight is the safest mode of transportation, period. With that, what I’m referring to is freight.
Qantas, Lufthansa, and Emirates; these are all renowned airlines that many of us have flown in before. But, irrespective of whatever price you may have paid for your flight ticket, your baggage incessantly becomes worse for wear with every flight you take. This video shows what your luggage would go through pretty much every flight.
Now, the burning question that must be answered is, does this happen before and after every flight in every airline? Or is this an isolated problem which occurs sparingly, thanks to Qantas’ negligence and low pay for their workers?
I asked a real pilot the other day about this problem. This pilot has visited the four corners of the world, from Los Angeles to Perth, from Pretoria to London, and in all these places his luggage had been tossed around and abused. Even pilots’ luggage are treated with negligence.
This has resulted in serious consequences. Anecdotally (as found on a Reddit thread discussing the video above), people have had their precious artefacts smashed up. Just a week ago, some guy’s 3000$ golf club set was run over, with Qantas refusing to foot the bill. And, going back to Reddit here, a person lost his dang cat in transit thanks to the negligence of their airline.
What’s the root of this problem? While it is easy to point fingers at the baggage handlers themselves, we have to remember they do backbreaking work for incredibly low pay. Qantas said it themselves: “On any one lift we (their minimum wage baggage handlers) lift approximately 10 tonnes of luggage”!
Another important thing to mention is that Qantas had actually made an official response to the video shown above, which had gone viral. “The behaviour in this video is clearly not acceptable, and our contracted ground handler is conducting an urgent investigation”. A video going viral is enough for Qantas to conduct an “urgent investigation”, which they surely would have done earlier.
Baggage handlers in Australia are, on average, paid 22$ AUD an hour. A Starbucks cashier earns 21$ an hour. With that kind of salary, it’s no wonder why they wouldn’t feel obligated to treat your luggage with care.
What can you do about the situation? Although it may feel right to go out to Twitter and call airline megacorps out on their visceral treatment of their own employees, the unfortunate reality of the situation is that not much will change, and companies will refuse to make any sort of change that would cause a drop in their profits.
Instead, try not to contribute to the problems of the baggage handlers. Bring carry-on luggage — as much as you possibly can. Bring a backpack as well as a small suitcase which you can stow in the overhead compartment. If you have to check in your baggage, do not overstuff it, and make sure there are no valuables in it. I know people who push their suitcases to the absolute limit, cramming in suits, computers, toys, and books, until the poor suitcase has to be sat on to keep it shut. Picture yourself as a baggage handler. If you had to throw around 25-kilogram suitcases, you would be frustrated.
Also, do not use hard suitcases. No matter how light your check-in luggage is, there is no guarantee baggage handlers won’t throw it around like a frisbee. It’s no surprise the aforementioned person’s (hard) suitcase gets progressively more damaged with each and every flight. Use a soft-skinned suitcase and fill it with only clothes, nothing that can snap, like a laptop.
Seek out whichever place in the world you wish to go, and destiny will guide you. Just make sure to travel light!
By: Vittorio Wang
