Manchester Airport baggage staff give luggage the kid-glove treatment

‘Each case is carefully lifted from the conveyor belt and placed gently on the cart’

The promise by a ground handler at Manchester Airport “to remind all staff of our duty of care with passengers’ belongings” appears to have paid off.

Last week video footage emerged of a Swissport baggage handler throwing cases from a recently arrived Ryanair plane from Malaga onto a baggage cart.

To make matters worse, the tarpaulin on the far side of the cart was adrift, and some of the bags fell off and dropped onto the apron. His colleague stood idly by and watched the performance.

Their employer was Swissport, the ground handler contracted by Ryanair. In a statement, Swissport said it was “disappointed by the video footage”.

It added: “This was an isolated incident and we have taken immediate action. A full investigation is underway in relation to this behaviour.”

The airport’s chief executive, Andrew Cowan, responded furiously, saying: “It is completely unacceptable for our customers’ belongings to be treated in this way by any company operating on our site.

“In our view, the actions of the individuals concerned are so serious that we would expect Swissport to ensure they do not work on the airport site in the future.

“We have also asked Swissport to carry out an urgent review of their recruitment and training processes to ensure their employees are clear about the high levels of customer service that are required.”

Mr Cowan also said that if Swissport did not come up with a satisfactory response, he would consider “the full range of sanctions that are available to us”.

Within days, it appears that the survival chances of baggage handled by Swissport at Manchester Airport have significantly improved.

On Sunday a passenger newly arrived on Brussels Airlines, Mark O’Connor, filmed the luggage being unloaded from his flight by Swissport staff.

Each case its carefully lifted from the conveyor belt and placed gently on the cart. At the point where the single baggage handler looks as though he could face problems, a colleague joins him and carries the luggage with equal care.

In South Africa, a baggage handler working in the baggage reclaim area has been praised after being filmed arranging luggage to help passengers.

In a video posted on Facebook by Janine Brand, he waits for each case to emerge, and manipulates it so that it the handle is facing outward on the carousel to make it easy for passengers to pick up.