An Alaska Airlines baggage agent at Newark air[port faced off with a customer over delayed luggage, losing it not just on the customer but with another passenger who tried to help de-escalate things.
The passenger was unhappy that their bag was delayed more than an hour. This comes at the end of a trip, you may have been cramped and uncomfortable seated for the flight, and you just want to get out of the airport. She demanded that her luggage get delivered more quickly. That agent, of course, had no control over this. She escalated things with the agent and the agent… lost it.
Another passenger stepped in and told the woman to stop berating the agent. The agent threatened to call the police and have him removed for showing attitude. She yells at him to “step back.” Both the agent and the passenger seem to act badly here.
@ferrarishreds Normal day at newark airport. Bags delayed for 1 hour stuck in the carousel
I often feel for agents in the bag office because nobody who is having a good travel day ever goes to see them. Everyone brings a problem. And it’s not their fault. But that’s also the job.
Customers have a duty to treat the people helping them in customer service reasonably. In fact, I always recommend going out of your way to be pleasant, to joke, and build a rapport – because whether or how much they help you will largely depend on how much they want to help you. They can take a report or they can actually exert some effort. And the airline won’t generally reward or penalize them for the choice.
At the same time, I often find that baggage office agents – especially in major cities – are some of the worst at any airline. Maybe the unpleasantness of dealing with nothing but problems gets to them eventually. That isn’t universally true, just on average. And here we add Newark to the mix.
(HT: Live and Let’s Fly)
Air Tags
No, Dan. Won’t help here. The luggage isn’t lost. It’s delayed.
As if the AA bean counters on Wall Street would care about hiring rocket scientist bag agents and not temp contractors on probation……
This is Newark…nothing out of the ordinary here, all part of the charm.
I have found that the AirTags are useful for delays, too. If I’m in JFK and my luggage is still in LAX, SFO, LGW, LHR, etc., I politely go to the luggage office, show the up-to-date info, arrange delivery, and get out of the airport. This saves waiting for the end of unloading and displaying luggage and often gets me to the luggage office before the crowds line up.
I agree if delayed by a luggage handler 90 minute coffee break, or holiday, yes, it doesn’t help, but at least I know in a more timely manner.
I honestly think that airports need to do a much better job with these kinds of problems because if they don’t, then they are Absolutely Incompetant
Since the pandemic IMO Alaska never recovered fully.Business culture wise
Its no longer fun to fly them and their food in Prem cabins went down the toilet
Its scary to say AA is even better here and there.
Since they became One world they think they are a world class carrier but they aren’t.
They get crumbs for award seats from their one world partners
They are almost as bad as Delta now except that I will fly Delta as they fly
more first class non stops where I a going.So no Seattle connections ahhhh
Used to go out of my way to fly Alaska no more…..
Alaska Listens still listens and does nothing no response to praise criticism or issues.
Like any airline you can get a decent flight every now and then with them and they do have some nice folks on their planes
As for the incident what do you expect ever see many of the folks that live and work in Newark and especially the airport?Angry and unhappy many of them.
That’s an airport I avoid at all costs.Horrible and outdated
I’ll take Philly JFK LGA anything but NewARK! eeek good god no thank you!
@dwondermeant
You probably haven’t been to Newark for a while. Terminal A was refurbed and is actually very good now, won several awards.
It’s Newark…,’nuff said
Agree with most all comments. EWR is the armpit of US airports..Terminal A is lipstick on a pig..nothing has changed
@ Jon
Thanks for the heads up.Good to hear
Yes I haven’t been there since the renovation .
I’ve been on the road for some 40 plus years and my last time Flying United into Newark was so stressful I swore no Newark ever again.The terminal is past its usable life without a single electric outlet in the baggage area in late Nov 2022 my final time to ever step foot in any of their terminals
But being upfront none of that was as bad as simply trying to find my driver
with what must have been hundreds or thousands of cars
After an hour of he#l plan b was to meet at the departure level (not allowed)
or I would have never found him in that dark cold night
You could make Newark gorgeous but you cant escape the fact that the facility is outdated and the volume of pax they serve cannot be safely and humanely handled
And the surrounding area cannot withstand the volume of flowing traffic stuck for long periods of time trying to enter and exit the airport.The region just isn’t a place with many kind front-lines with empathy and life experience to handle the challenges and expectations of travelers in 2024
Granted the passengers can be as rough around the edges as the employees that work there.
Signed Negative on Newark sadly.
They wont miss me the place is always hoppin!
If the passenger was being aggressive with the agent then she had a right to say “step back”. There were only 2 people interested in finding this guy’s luggage and one of them was going to lose interest very quickly.
I managed baggage services (BSO) for AA and JetBlue. It’s brutal. Most agents did their best. Yes, there are days that frustration sets in and patience wears thin (Often from IRROPS, system failures or incompetent staff that create messes you need to explain to customers and resolve, as well as exhaustion from the horrible people who go hysterical for any baggage delay, no matter how short). I dealt with belligerent drunks, threats, and physical assaults by several passengers I was trying to help (That’s one reason why our ties are clip-on, you can’t yank us by them). I also had pens, coffee, water and food thrown at me simply for conveying information about delayed, lost or damaged bags. Those actions won’t help you.
Some agents wanted to work BSO because unlike other airport roles, they don’t have to pretend to be nice. Some work in BSO because they have the ability to take the anger in stride and don’t let it effect them. However, most are new employees just getting their foot in the door to the airline industry. If you can survive long enough in BSO, you can work anywhere in operations. However, there is also only so much emotional abuse any hourly, low paid customer service worker (at any job) is willing to take. Keep in mind, my BSO agents in 2017 were paid $13.00 an Hour- in California!!! They literally would have made more at McDonalds. How much abuse would you be willing to take for minimum wage? It’s very hard to retain any decent BSO agents. They either transfer to other airport ops roles or quit.
So, next time you feel like throwing a tantrum at an airport employee out of your frustration (Mostly I saw this done over minuscule problems and same day baggage delivery), remember you are speaking to someone vastly overworked and underpaid. They didn’t create your problem, they didn’t create whatever policy you think is unfair. They can, however, help you if you are able to remain calm and allow the agent to do their job with the resources available to them.
If you want to avoid lost luggage, the #1 thing passengers can do is use luggage tags!
Even if just the paper tags you get at the airport. It’s unbelievable how many passengers do not use luggage tags. The sticker bag tag applied when checking in can get torn off/removed in transit. Rarely (but happens) a bag is mistagged at check-in, ends up on the wrong flight, then not claimed on the carousel. When there is no identifying customer information, the bag will be taken to the BSO station office and sit in storage. This was the biggest reason for lost bags.
Other tips: It’s not helpful to say “it’s a black roller bag”. That is 95% of every bag in transit and BSO storage. Identifying markers or unique luggage may seem odd but it genuinely helps locate bags that are lost. Passengers also would often say they put a business card in their checked luggage. That won’t help. BSO agents aren’t TSA and are not allowed to open bags or unzip the pockets looking for identification. Use luggage tags and unique baggage/markers when you travel.
Alaska is my airline of choice. I’ve never had a problem with them. I should state that I live in the Pacific Northwest. Alaska had a guarantee that baggage would be delivered within 20 minutes, or they would refund baggage charges.
I guess that guarantee has gone by the wayside?
Well, that was Newark so that guarantee might not apply there.:)