Dear Manager - Handler - Airport- Airline
Airline que
A normal daily routine at the arrival, seen from a passenger agents’ point of view:
You have been told by your superior a few minutes ago, that a lot of passengers on flight XX 1234 and flight XX 2345 will arrive without their luggage, as a belt breakdown at airport QQ has occurred.
Sitting behind the counter, you prepare as good as you can. Pencil is sharp and WT is open. You see that the passengers from the flights are coming in, and the only thing you can do is to wait….
As the belts are slowly emptied, there are still a lot of passengers, now wondering around looking elsewhere for their luggage that never arrived.
The first passenger now approaches your counter and “it all breaks loose”. Statements like these from upset passengers occur:
“My luggage is nowhere to be found”!
“What have you done to my bags”?
“Why is my luggage not there, as it was checked in together with my wife’s”?
“Now again, this is the third time this year you have thrown away my bags”!
“It always happens when I fly with your airline”!
“Always when I approach this dump of an airport, it goes wrong”!
All questions and statements that you can absolutely not give a straight answer to, as you have no influence on what has gone wrong somewhere else at another airport.
You have ONE option, to help best way possible – and you do. Reports are made as quick as you can, but it is with an average of 10-11 minutes per passenger and the line is getting longer….
Three hours and several reports made later; the last passenger is helped. With excuses from you on behalf of the airline, airport, and handler, you get a break – just to learn, that the next incoming flight from PP also has a lack of bags and soon “the circus starts all over again”.
Is this just another day at the office or could it be different – not just for the passenger agents, but absolutely in first place for the passengers??
The above history is an example of what is going on at a daily basis in most airports around the world. Bad and unfortunate situations for the passenger agents, very bad working environment for the personnel, with lots of anger from passengers and a workflow with a lot of ups and downs. With a consequence of sick leaves because of the environment and stress situations.
Is this really the best solution for the airport to show the arriving passengers?
Is this really what you as a handler want to accept for your employees?
Is this really what you as an airline want to offer your passengers?
What if there were a few common use kiosks standing at the arrival area to help passengers, that with a few clicks could help themselves – or even better,
what if there was a possibility for the passengers just to scan a code, go on and being able to help themselves out later at their hotel/home at their own convenience?
More articles with more different views of the arrival hall issues will follow