Normally this blog is for stuff related to pop culture but I ran an article today that, at first I thought was funny, but now after letting it sink in, really bothers me, so I'm going to address it.
The article, from Smartmoney.com, is 10 Things Baggage Handlers Won't Say. After reading this again, it really insulted my line of work, especially since I've been a ramper for close to four and a half years now. The story to me seems like it was written by someone who used to do this job but lost it for one reason or another and decided to reveal "secrets". That being said, us rampers already feel like we are the lowest level as it is, this article makes us seem even worse than we already feel.
Let me go through this one by one, if you would like to follow along, here's the link.
1. “Don’t pack light—we need the money.”
There is alot of truth to what is written here. The airline business has been through some of the roughest times financially ever. Do I like the fact that we charge for bags and for itinerary changes when we never used to? Not at all. But honestly, give things time. I know our company is starting to make money again, once we start making money again, I hope that things get better.
2. “We’re losing fewer bags—because there are fewer to lose.”
This is a low blow. How can I even argue this? You're right, we have fewer bags. That means mishandle numbers are way down. Isn't that a good thing? Don't you want the number to be down? That just means we doing a great job with the bags that we are being given.
3. “Some of us have sticky fingers.”
Okay, I'm going to make this very clear. They talked about a one-time incident. This doesn't happen everyday. I've been doing this for over four years and not one person has ever stolen something from a bag or from a passenger at anytime. This just gives us a bad reputation. Maybe passengers should close their bags better, then stuff won't fall out and get lost.
4. “Sure, we can handle your pet—but can your pet handle us?”
Again, this is ridiculous. This is talking about certain airlines. I know for a fact that Frontier and Airtran both allow small animals outboard for their flights. As a matter of fact, Frontier allows celebrity dogs to have their own seats! As for loading animals in the bins, we have VERY strict rules on how to load animals to make sure they have a very safe flight like any other passenger. As for the story of the cat who was mad at her owner after he showed up at her destination late, are you sure it wasn't just the cat? Cats are just known to be mean anyway especially away from home. There was only one time that an animal got left behind overnight in Milwaukee and we had to send it the next day. It was a big dog and it was kept in our warm ramp room, with constant supervision by a ramper, or two, so much so that a ramper stayed overtime and slept next to the dog's cage to make sure he was safe and sound. That's what I call great customer service, especially when we make a mistake.
5. "We don't actually do that much."
When I first read that line, I chuckled, but just because we always joke about how much we actually do do at work on a daily basis. That being said, what they are talking about are the fact that SOME big airports has major advance that make their rampers' lives easier. Us at General Michtell don't have that kind of money or technology. My point being we actually do have to lift every bag in the bagroom when they get checked in, sometimes more than once. The rampers outside still have to load the planes by lifting bags and loading planes using raw strength. We do alot of work, just never get the real credit we deserve.
6. “Not all bags are created equal.”
Okay, this is vaild. Can't really argue with this portion at all.
7. “Stressing about baggage claim? You should.”
What does this have anything to do with being a baghandler or a ramper? What goes on at baggage claim has nothing to do with us at all. This is baggage service's resonsiblity not ours.
8. “Many of us don’t actually work for the airlines.”
Okay this part is true for some people. I for a long time worked for Skyway Airlines, a contracted employee that worked on Midwest planes. Now I officially work for Frontier. This part I can't argue with. BUT I will say that rampers, no matter who they get paid by, they still work hard to do their jobs. That's how it should be. No one ever slacked just because technically we were "Skyway contractors".
9. “We can’t handle unusual items.”
Antlers? Really? That's the big complaint here? Are you serious? This is the major problem? Because some Alaskian can't bring his antlers on board? Give me a break. The major stuf we can't travel with is chemical stuff. The obvious stuff. I've never heard a problem with anything else. Antlers? Wow.
10. “If you think we’re bad here, just wait till you go abroad.”
What does this even mean? Are the flight crews "worse than we are"? I don't get this at all. Again though, why would we worry about the flight crews as rampers? We barely have any communication with them as it is. If they don't treat passengers good, that's not my fault.
I think I've said my peace. This article just really frustrated me. Thank you for reading
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