Three porters have been suspended after they were caught throwing luggage off a Qantas airline flight. The episode took place at Melbourne Airport in Australia.
The scene was shot at the place where the luggage is stored. The images were shared on the TikTok platform on Friday (2) and received a great response.
Managers at Qantas and the thirdparty company Swissport, for which the shippers provided services, became aware of the case and announced that the workers involved had been fired.
A trio of employees appear in the video, forcibly tossing the bags onto a conveyor belt, ignoring the risk of damaging travelers’ belongings. At one point they also appear to be laughing, as if throwing suitcases with brute force is a joke.
The Australian airline and Swissport launched an internal investigation into the men’s behavior.
“The behavior in this video is clearly unacceptable and our assigned ground service representative is conducting an urgent investigation,” a Qantas spokesman told The Guardian.
Swissport also stated and confirmed that the behavior of its employees is regularly evaluated in order to guarantee service quality. After the incident, workers caught in the footage were severely punished, the agency said.
“We train and guide all employees in handling client assets with care and conscientiousness. The team’s actions in the video appear to have violated these service level standards. As a result, the team in question has been dismissed pending investigation,” a company spokesman said in a statement.
Brad Moore, CEO of Swissport, told the Australian press: “The behavior in the video has disappointed us all. Disrespectful behavior towards our customers’ luggage and personal belongings will not be tolerated and will result in serious disciplinary action.”
On social media, many people dismissed the porters’ attitude and disrespect towards customers.
“You are joking! I bet they would be pissed if someone treated their stuff like that,” wrote one user. Another slammed: “You are wrong on so many levels, these men need to be held accountable.”