Passengers want handlers on the case to cut delays at the carousels

Parents have been driven to tears as passengers wait hours for luggage at Scottish airports.

They have faced tortuous delays in collecting baggage in the early morning, often with young children in tow.

A shortage of handlers has been blamed for the chaos at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, passengers have been told.

It comes as the union Unite says it is fighting to restore working conditions that were eroded when handlers were rehired after Covid shutdown layoffs.

Edinburgh Airport passenger Colin McNeill said: “Luggage takes forever to arrive at the carousel.

“There are always operational delays.

“This the beginning of the main holidays for many, and the queues are unacceptable.”

One mother of two young children told The Sunday Post she waited almost two hours at Glasgow Airport after arriving home at 2am last weekend from a family holiday.

“It’s exhausting and unfair on families,” she explained.

“We were told the delays are caused by a shortage of baggage handlers, but you must ask why that situation has arisen.”

Other parents say they were told by airport staff at Glasgow it was impossible to fill an overnight shift of baggage handlers.

‘It has been a race to the bottom’

Unite says wages and conditions fell so badly during a rehiring operation after Covid that many workers left because they found better deals elsewhere. Current baggage handler vacancies at Glasgow Airport offer £11.79 an hour.

Unite officer Pat Mcilvogue, said: “Unite say that staff retention in aviation is 30% to 80% because of the working conditions.

“Many staff were laid off during Covid and initially rehired on poorer conditions.

“Employers rehired at lower wages and conditions and consequently, previous employees moved on to better jobs with no shiftwork and/or higher wages. There has been a mass exodus of staff to other sectors.

“They are caught between providing a vital service to passengers, working long hours early in the morning, and earning enough to feed their families.

“That’s the reality of it. It has been a race to the bottom.”

Mcilvogue added that the staff car park at Glasgow Airport had moved from a five-minute walk to one 15 minutes away to make way for more passenger-paying spaces.

“Buses are provided but everything is driven by profit,” he said.

A recent wage settlement, negotiated by Unite, gave employees a “catch-up” of a 12% wage increase and the return of a company sick pay scheme, Mcilovogue said.

“Before, sick pay was the basic government statutory level which few employers use,” he explained.

Naomi Leach, deputy editor of consumer organisation Which? Travel, said: “As we ramp up for the peak summer period, there’s no excuse for airports not to be fully prepared to deal with the increased number of passengers passing through the terminal.

“After a long journey, delays at the baggage carousel are not only hugely frustrating, they can also have a knock-on financial impact for those having to unexpectedly pay out to extend their parking, or keep a taxi waiting.

“It is essential airports ensure they are fully staffed to prevent further issues this summer.”

Swissport, which employs baggage handlers, said: “We have invested significantly in baggage handling capabilities over the last year, including at Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports. We are equipped for the demands of peak season.”

It added that it was now on a full roster of staff at Glasgow Airport but has “vacancies open to ensure a pipeline” of employees.

It insists that any events that cause delays are by “exception and often have causes beyond our control”.

Both Glasgow and Edinburgh Airport management say that the baggage handlers are employed by their contractors.

A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport said: “Like any international airport in its peak summer season, baggage wait times can occasionally be longer for some flights than others, and we work with our partners to minimise these.”