A baggage handler has revealed why they ‘have’ to throw luggage while loading and unloading bags at the airport.
Over on Reddit, one baggage handler created a post in the ‘Ask Me Anything’ sub-reddit.
“Hello there, fine strangers!” He wrote.
“I’m Adam, and I’ve been doing baggage handling at an airport for a while… I’m up to answering basically anything other than anything that will tell you guys which airport I’m at, who my employer is, and anything else related to security at my airport.”
One of the first questions Adam was asked was related to the type of luggage passengers should carry on flights.
One asked: “What’s the best/worst luggage to buy?”
Turns out, the best type of luggage is actually a suitcase with at least two wheels, with Adam responding: “Some of the worst bags to buy are the ones which have no wheels. In my airline, none of our holds are bin loaded, so we have to manually stack the bags inside each hold, and they can get fairly long.”
Adam explained that if the bag doesn’t have wheels, more often than not, a handler will have to ‘throw’ the luggage.
“If your bag has at least 2 high quality wheels, then it allows us to roll them down the hold quickly, making it easier for us. Otherwise, we have to throw the bags in order to keep to the scheduled times,” he added.
“My absolute least favourite bags are the ones that have 4 wheels, but one of them is seized up, so we try to roll it down, but it just falls over after moving 6 inches.”
People found the response pretty useful, with many explaining they never realised wheels were so important.
“4-wheelers are generally preferred, but 2-wheeled-ones are also fine, if u find them,” Adam added.
Another baggage handler has recently warned people against tying ribbons to their luggage.
Speaking to RSVP Live, Dublin Airport baggage handler John said: “Ribbons that people tie onto their suitcases to help identify them can cause issues with the bag being scanned in the baggage hall.”
He added: “If the bag can’t be scanned automatically it can end up in manual processing, which could mean your bag doesn’t make it to the flight.”
Old stickers from previous trips can also create problems, with John added: “If the bag can’t be scanned automatically it can end up in manual processing, which could mean your bag doesn’t make it to the flight.”
You’ve been warned!
