The CEO of Australia's Qantas Airways has responded to a viral video that showed baggage handlers slamming and mishandling passengers' luggage.
Originally posted on TikTok, the video - which has since received upwards of three million views and 55,ooo likes - showed three baggage handlers throwing, slamming, kicking, and shoving suitcases and backpacks on a baggage conveyor belt, understood to be at Melbourne Airport.
It is currently not clear why the footage was recorded.
Some of the baggage is transferred so roughly that they fall off the conveyor belt, with one handler lifting a bag far above his head and slamming it down on the belt with force. The handlers appeared to be laughing as they continued mishandling the passengers' items.
A spokesperson for Qantas has since made statements on the incident, telling News.com.au: "The behavior in this video is clearly not acceptable, and our contracted ground handler is conducting an urgent investigation."
Swissport - the company that Qantas contracts for ground handling at the Melbourne airport also commented on the situation, adding: "Swissport trains and manages all staff to handle customer possessions with care and diligence. The actions of staff in the video appear to have contravened those service level standards. As a result, the staff in question have been stood down pending an urgent investigation."
Following this Brad Moore, Swissport's CEO, echoed these comments in a note to staff that was obtained by News.com.au.
In his note, Moore wrote: "It is with regret that I advise that evidence has emerged today of Swissport Staff handling customer luggage in an unacceptable manner [...] Our 3,000 strong team across the network work hard to ensure these standards are upheld, and it is important that when those standards are breached by a small group of individuals that we take action.
"The behaviors in the video let all of us down – most importantly our frontline staff who have worked so hard through [the pandemic] to assure quality standards in at times challenging circumstances," it continued.
He then assured staff that those involved in the viral incident will be dealt with, writing: "Disrespectful behavior to our customer luggage and personal effects will not be tolerated and will result in serious disciplinary action. The individuals in the video have been stood down pending urgent investigation."
This was most likely welcome news for social media users, who were understandably outraged at the video.
"People pay soooo much money for their flights and trust that our property isn't being intentionally damaged when we don't have it with us," one person wrote.
"That's the reason I've traveled all around the world and got 2 suitcases broken only in Australia," someone else added.
A further user chimed in: "Bloody disgusting behavior. If you don't like the job, quit."
And while other Twitter users described the footage as "absolutely disgraceful", others put the baggage handlers' actions down to "poor pay":
What do you think about this situation? Let us know in the comments!
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