Passengers crawling through conveyor belts in a bid to get their bags, "brutal" staff shifts and people "trying to start fights" are just some of the things witnessed during an undercover investigation into Manchester Airport.
Amid complaints of huge queues, delays, cancellations and lost luggage, an undercover reporter got a job as a baggage handler at the airport as part of a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary set to air tonight (Monday).
The reporter, working for Swissport, spoke to colleagues on seeing desperate travellers climb through conveyor belts in an attempt to get airside to locate luggage they'd waited hours for - and soon discovered it to be a regular occurrence. Workers claimed "it happens all the time", while another said: "People come through trying to start fights".
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Some baggage handlers were also witnessed undertaking "brutal" shifts over multiple days that would, pre-pandemic, have been covered by two or more people. Other baggage handlers describe how their team numbers had been slashed, commenting that the majority of people who were sacked were “experienced staff”.
The reporter said: “To be honest, I just don't know how people do these shifts and these kinds of hours starting at 3am. It’s absolutely brutal. No one gives them much credit. But without them no one's flights will be taking off. No one will be going on holiday.”
Swissport, the baggage-handling company used by many airlines, sacked over half of its 6000 baggage handling staff during the pandemic.
In response to Dispatches’ investigation, Swissport said: “We are sorry for our part in the disruption some people have experienced at Manchester Airport. We are doing everything we can to mitigate delays for passengers, including hiring more than 4100 people since January.”
Presenter Jane Moore also meets a number of passengers who have been affected by flight cancellations – including a family who spent nearly £4000 rearranging flights for a wedding, a passenger who was left stranded in Europe without critical heart medication, a passenger with accessibility needs who was abandoned on a plane and a single mother who had saved for years to take her son on his first holiday abroad, only to have it cancelled.
Almost all of these passengers were either denied compensation or did not receive a response when they made a compensation claim – however many did eventually receive compensation after Dispatches got in touch with the airline on their behalf.
In research for Dispatches, air travel data provider OAG reveals that in June 2022, Wizz Air delayed almost 7 in 10 flights leaving the UK. Over half of easyJet flights departing from the UK were delayed and over 8 in 10 BA flights leaving the UK were delayed. The research estimates since January 2022 1.7 million people flying out of, or into the UK, have been impacted by cancellations within 48hrs of their flight.
Airport Chaos Undercover: Dispatches airs tonight (Monday) at 8pm on Channel 4 and All 4
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