Manchester Airport ‘crack down’?

Unite has a key interest in the delivery of the highest standards of service to the travelling public who use Manchester Airport. The union is also calling for a similar across the board ‘crack down’ on other recent incidents.

Manchester Airport’s CEO has vowed to crack down on ground handlers following an incident yesterday, which showed employees of Swissport, the handler employed by Ryanair, causing damage to passenger belongings.

“Unite understands and supports the extremely high priority that must be attached to protecting passengers’ interests and agree that they deserve the highest levels of customer service. We do not condone baggage “mishandling” and note the promise to investigate the incident,” said Unite regional officer Mike Gaskell.

“It is worth noting that no such ‘crack down’ has been threatened by MAG in relation to other recent incidents. The August bank holiday delays meant thousands of passengers spent hours waiting. Fraying tempers resulted in one of our members being assaulted. The union is concerned about short staffing and the knock- on effects. Unite is currently conducting a survey of all of our members at Manchester Airport.

“If our survey does indeed point to a worrying increase in the number of our members experiencing abuse and an increase in accidents and incidents, we will be approaching Manchester Airport to call for a similar ‘crack down’ on bad practice.”

Unite is equally interested in protecting all those working at Manchester Airport and believe that a flagship operation that aspires to be the airport of choice for the region’s travelling public requires flagship staffing levels and flagship terms and conditions of employment.