Baggage Mishandler Suspended

The guy who pulled a hit and run on an MD-80 at Sea-Tac over the holiday weekend was suspended pending the results of an investigation after the plane suffered an in-flight depressurization. We're curious as to which route he's going to take: Will it be the "I didn't feel anything" classic? Maybe the old "That was already there" excuse? Perhaps "I barely touched it - That's what bumpers are for" standby? Any way you slice it it's difficult to imagine how he comes out of this with a job. Of course, one guy careening around the runways knocking creases into airplanes may not be the whole problem at Alaska. What about the rest of the Alaska Airlines baggage handling scabs strike breakers contractors?

From a May 2005 Seattle Times article:

Alaska Airlines baggage handlers arriving for work at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport just before 3 a.m. yesterday were met with a Friday the 13th surprise. Overnight, their jobs had been given to an outsourcing company.

All 472 of Alaska's baggage handlers at Sea-Tac got the same message by phone or as they showed up for their shifts. By replacing the unionized baggage handlers in Seattle with contract workers from Menzies Aviation, the airline estimates it will save more than $13 million a year.

The decision came a week after union workers in Seattle and Alaska overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer that included pay and benefit cuts but also a guarantee of four years without outsourcing. The airline had warned since January that it might outsource the jobs if no agreement could be reached with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 143.

Sure it's easy to take pot shots at contractors (because if you can't blame contractors for stuff then where are you), but in this case it's likely that Alaska will be taking a new look at what kind of work it wants to contract out.