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Air Canada set to fire two employees over ‘unacceptable’ baggage handling video

A video posted online apparently showing an Air Canada baggage handler dropping luggage from the top of a staircase into a bin some 20 feet below resulted in a mass voicing of public outrage and also, apparently, the impending firing of two airline employees.

Air Canada spokesperson Angela Mah told Yahoo Canada News on Monday that an internal investigation has identified two employees recorded carelessly unloading luggage from a Vancouver-bound flight departing from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.

“The employees involved have been suspended and advised that their employment will be terminated pending the outcome of our investigation,” Mah told Yahoo Canada News in an email. “We are now addressing the matter as appropriate internally and we have no further details to provide at this point.

“We apologize for the totally unacceptable mishandling of our passengers' baggage captured on video. We take matters involving the protection of our customers' personal possessions very seriously. The actions of these individuals are not representative of the vast majority of our employees who work hard every day to take care of our customers.”

The video in question was posted to YouTube last week and stirred outrage on social media. It was shot through the window of the aircraft and appears to show an Air Canada employee at the top of a set of stairs pulling luggage from the plane and dropping them into a bin located 20 feet below. Another person can be seen adjusting the bin below.

An Air Canada spokesperson told reporters the incident was "totally unacceptable" and was being investigated.

It is a less-than-ideal time for airline public relations, after a series of public perception flubs. There was an awkward retweet from US Airways which contained a vulgar pornographic photograph.

American Airlines recently reported an apparent teenager for making a bomb threat on Twitter, leading to her reported arrest. Following that, their Twitter account was inundated by dozens of similar threats, all of them apparent hoaxes.

And Canadian airlines have not been without their troubles. Earlier this month, internationally acclaimed violinist Itzhak Perlman complained of poor treatment after arriving at Toronto Pearson International Airport on an Air Canada flight when an aide sent to assist the disabled 68-year-old abandoned him with his luggage in the middle to the airport.

The way Pearson airport handled a January cold weather snap was also criticized, after a rare "ground halt" closed Canada's busiest airport to incoming traffic for eight hours and resulted in a massive backlog.

And it was just late last year that an Air Canada crew apparently contravened directions and allowed an Italian greyhound in their care out of its cage at a California airport. The dog fled the scene, was hit by a car and had to be euthanized by a local vet.

To make matters worse, a local news agency reporting on the incident, after the dog escaped but before it was confirmed dead, was accidentally forwarded a curt internal email from a spokesperson suggesting a colleague ignore the matter.

Few things irk air passenger more than how their baggage is handled. So it’s no surprise the reaction to this video has been so swift and severe. Two suspension, with terminations likely coming when the investigation is over. But as Air Canada says, this is not representative of most baggage handlers.

Next time, I suspect the bags will be carried down the stairs.

Want to know what news is brewing in Canada?
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