Airlines Scramble To Hire More Baggage Handlers

[question everything]

Airlines Scramble To Hire More Baggage Handlers

August 11, 2006

By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Airlines scrambled to recruit more baggage handlers Friday as U.S. travelers quickly adapted to new security measures by simply checking luggage they normally would have carried with them.

Passengers also faced a second level of security checks starting Friday, with random bag searches at the airline gates.

(snip)

Los Angeles International Airport reported a 30 to 50 percent increase in checked luggage, a jump that required airlines to recruit additional bag handlers, said Paul Haney, spokesman for Los Angeles World Airports. To handle the random bag checks at airport gates, about 200 unarmed National Guard troops were on duty.

(snip)

It wasn't clear how long that and other security measures would remain in effect, though Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., said the situation "eliminates the days of carry-on baggage."

(snip)

http://www.komotv.com/stories/44880.htm

[MnFats]

1. where do i apply?

i need extra money to pay for gas to get to my current job.
what do they pay? can i get part-time hours?
A Kevlar vest?

[SutaUvaca]

7. Sorry, no.

But the bennies do include all the free hand lotion and toothpaste you want.

[MADem]

11. Yeah, more thieves to slice open yer bags and steal shit!!! NT

[wakeme2008]

2. No carry on no flyie

Petey R-Mich...

[Kutjara]

3. And naturally, all these baggage handlers the airlines...

...are 'scrambling' to hire will be thoroughly vetted and checked, right? Nobody's going to slip through the net. Oh no. That'll never happen.

[underpants]

9. Exactly what I was thinking

:eyes:

[LostinVA]

10. My thought, too...

[gratuitous]

12. I'll fourth that notion

I had a friend who went through TSA training last year to be an airport luggage screener. The vetting was very thorough, as was the training. After all that, she went to work at the airport for about two months, then decided it wasn't for her and quit. Somehow, I don't think these new recruits will pass through quite what my friend did.

Hand lotion, lipstick, pudding packs and deodorant! That's security, baby!

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. How many of them will turn out to be

illegial aliens?

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. It's sort of amusing watching this frenzy unfold.

It will be all the more amazing when they realize it was for nothing.

[Sherman A1]

8. Yes,

Much Ado About Nothing.....

[itsrobert]

5. Sadly, they probably pay more for the baggage handlers

than the Security Guards.

[Vidar]

6. Reagan would be proud: his war against air travel continues.

[Robb]

13. It all still amazes me

I remember in 2000, hopping over the counter at a small regional airport on a whim to help out when they were short a handler. Stuck a bunch of bags in a turboprop.

Today, I believe I would be shot.