Damaged Bags At The Airport: Video May Explain It

HONOLULU, HI — Vanessa Marsh no longer wonders why her suitcases sometimes are broken when she retrieves them from the luggage carousel. She captured video at the Honolulu airport showing a female baggage handler tossing luggage down a metal chute and onto the aircraft, then proclaimed the mystery solved in a post on Twitter that has earned her more scorn than agreement.

Her video showing the handling of baggage for a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Phoenix at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport earlier this month has been viewed more than 45,000 times on Twitter and has prompted more than 100 comments.

For its part, Hawaiian Airlines took Marsh’s side.

“Aloha Vanessa, we’re very sorry to see this and appreciate you bringing it to our attention,” the airline tweeted. “The way these bags were handled is not acceptable and our Airport Operations Management team is addressing this situation. Thank you.”

Some people did sympathize with Marsh, but many more defended baggage handlers, saying their intent is never to damage luggage and that critics should back off.

“This is how you should expect your luggage to be treated,” one user wrote. “It’s not a gentle process. Bubble wrap is you friend. Also, it’s pretty easy to sit in an office and criticize someone who does physical labor outdoors for a living so you can go on vacation. Cut her some slack.”

Someone else pointed out that the bags were gate-checked by travelers who “don’t want to pay for the baggage fee.”

Another user suggested the worker may have been trying to get on and off the bridge quickly to escape vog, or volcanic smog, from the eruption of the Kilauea volcano eruption, suggesting others would probably “do the same” and quickly toss the bags “just to rush back into the AC.”

“The expectations for this job are ridiculous specifically working for a hub when they’re only trying to make unrealistic timelines set by the airlines,” another user wrote, noting that baggage handlers are under pressure to get flights out on time.

The same user noted that Hawaiian Airlines isn’t the only culprit, and that all airlines handle luggage similarly when it’s loaded from the bridge. “Try working down there under those conditions and you’ll see,” the person tweeted, adding, “this is not even bad compared to what I’ve seen.”

Here's the video. What do you think?

File photo by nutcd32 / Shutterstock