It’s often been said that there are two kinds of luggage: carry on and lost.
Baggage handlers don’t usually just send your stuff somewhere else for kicks. But one man did, hundreds of times, and for months. He’s being charged criminally.
When you check a bag your things may get stolen. Employees may hide drugs in your luggage.
I avoid checking bags whenever possible because I don’t trust United’s baggage handlers not to get caught in the cargo hold and I don’t want my bags there anyway since British Airways has had to ask staff to stop urinating in the cargo holds.
Sometimes it’s unavoidable. When I got married I was traveling for 3 weeks, first to Seattle where my wife and I got married and then to French Polynesia and Australia. So we checked bags. At the end of the trip we arrived in Los Angeles in Qantas first and connected back up to Seattle on Alaska. Baggage handlers for Alaska were protesting at the time by intentionally mishandling bags. Mine were diverted to Reno, if I recall correctly.
So it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that this baggage handler purposely switched hundreds of bag tags because why not? The man has been charged criminally, but no motive for his actions is known. (HT: God Save the Points)
Tay is believed to have subsequently swopped around baggage tags almost every day for three months until this February.
The affected bags were originally bound for places including Hong Kong, Manila, London and Perth.
Besides Singapore Airlines, they were also supposed to be transported on carriers such as Silkair and Lufthansa.
He intends to plead guilty to criminal mischief. And, apparently, not explain himself.
Wouldn’t you know though that this man checked a can of beer as luggage, and it made it? It apparently didn’t meet the 63 year old Mr. Tay Boon Keh.
I do no understand the connection of the photo of Kim Jong Un with the story. Was that the only photo you had available?
@Felix yea seriously that photo really isn’t appropriate, especially given the current state of international affairs.
As with everything, “Seinfeld” covered this:
The seinfeld airline/airport episode was the best.
To go with the checked beer story, I once checked a Swiss Army knife (and just a Swiss Army knife). Forgot it was in my pocket as I went to security. Went back to the ticket agent to try to get it into my other checked bag, but it was gone. She very politely took it… put it into a giant plastic bag (like the ones they use for children’s car seats)… and sent it on its way.
It was the first item off the plane in Newark.
Might have had something to do with that fact I was flying Swiss from Zurich. Guess they take car of ‘their own’.
Where was Mr.Tay doing these nefarious deeds?