This may explain why your bags get sent to the incorrect destination.

CHICAGO — Police say a baggage handler told them he was drunk when he fell asleep in a cargo hold and flew from Kansas City to Chicago.

American Airlines says the Piedmont Airlines employee was working American Flight 363 on Saturday when the Boeing 737 left Kansas City International Airport with the handler in a heated and pressurized cargo hold.

Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says he was found when the flight landed about an hour later at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. The spokesman says the handler told police he was intoxicated and had fallen asleep.

No charges were filed, and he was sent back to Kansas City.

American says it is grateful the handler wasn’t injured and it’s reviewing what happened.

The handler’s name wasn’t released.

LINK: https://wgntv.com/2018/11/01/d...ld-flies-to-chicago/

Shouldn't the reference be "ex-baggage handler"?

He is extremely lucky the luggage area was both heated and pressurized.

Hes gonna have a killer story to talk about now......in the unemployment line

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The handler’s name wasn’t released.

but he was...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5sEIWlQO7A

He can always be replaced by this guy; and he’ll work for bananas too.

Back in the 90s, I knew a guy that worked baggage for United and he would tell me these crazy stories, how they avoid work for 2-3 hours everyday, how they "retrain" a green guy to slow down and work at their pace, about their hiding places around the airport, etc. But the unbelievable stuff is when the baggage guys would purposely send various bags to different routes, the most common reason is if a bag cut them or pinched or injured them. If the bag was packed carelessly, same result. These guys did not care one bit about someones luggage. This is why I never check bags in.

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Back in the 90s, I knew a guy that worked baggage for United and he would tell me these crazy stories, how they avoid work for 2-3 hours everyday, how they "retrain" a green guy to slow down and work at their pace, about their hiding places around the airport, etc. But the unbelievable stuff is when the baggage guys would purposely send various bags to different routes, the most common reason is if a bag cut them or pinched or injured them. If the bag was packed carelessly, same result. These guys did not care one bit about someones luggage. This is why I never check bags in.

Having done this kind of work, this seems to be standard practice. At least they were not rifling the bags for valuables. The work is monotonous and seldom appreciated. That is the psychological mechanism these guys use for handling those issues.

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Originally posted by rockchalk06:
Hes gonna have a killer story to talk about now......in the unemployment line

Probably not, it's a union job. He'd have to murder somebody to get fired.

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No charges were filed, and he was sent back to Kansas City.

In the cargo hold?

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In the cargo hold?

I believe his union contract called for FIRST Class return ticket.

Big security problem; it could have been anybody in there. Or anything.

Think about it.

And friends of mine are always giving me crap about refusing to ever check a bag. I can get a week's worth of clothing in a carry on and amazingly, it always ends up in the same city I do.

And he did not have to take his shoes off before his flight!

How does he even be permitted to work in a drunken condition?? I wonder what condition those servicing the aircraft are in?

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
... baggage handler told them he was drunk when he fell asleep in a cargo hold ...

Well, at least he had a good reason.



.

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How does he even be permitted to work in a drunken condition?? I wonder what condition those servicing the aircraft are in?

Hmmm. Seems you pushed a button here. We ALL know that Denzel Washington can be drunk and fly an airplane upside down. Should not be an issue for those servicing the aircraft either.

Wonder if they’d let me ride in the heated, pressurized baggage compartment instead of in the ridiculously small seats they have in the cabin.

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Originally posted by arfmel:
Wonder if they’d let me ride in the heated, pressurized baggage compartment instead of in the ridiculously small seats they have in the cabin.

We generally keep the lower cargo areas fairly cold. If you've ever spent any time down there, you'd have found there's very little room. I'm trying to imagine where one might actually fall asleep. In our aircraft you'd have to do it standing, and there are inches to spare.

The fire capability in lower cargo varies between depressurization, or flooding the space with halon. Neither particularly good for anyone in that area, but then neither is a fire. Rough place to be in the event of a rejected takeoff or landing incident, as nobody's coming to open the baggage space.

I just rode Miami to Seattle with one stop, half that in the middle seat, and not nearly as fun as it seems. I think my elbows are still touching.