Staff Illness Leads to Long Lines and Delays at BHX

Swissport reported that as many as a quarter of its ground handling team at Birmingham Airport called in sick this week, resulting in delays for departing passengers.

A quarter of the ground handling team at England’s Birmingham Airport (BHX) called in sick earlier this week, resulting in chaos for travelers attempting to depart the facility. Swissport told the Express that between 20 and 30 of its ground handling staff at BHX had reported in as ill, meaning that many flights had to depart without their luggage.

Departing passengers, many of whom had already had to contend with long lines at the airport’s check-in and bag drop areas, told the outlet that they arrived at their destinations only to find that their baggage had not been loaded onto their respective flights.

Some frustrated travelers took to social media to complain about the situation at BHX. Passenger Steve Cox tweeted a photo which showed winding lines at the airport’s bag drop area, commenting, “This bag drop is beyond a joke at Birmingham Airport.”

Steve Comar, another traveler, tweeted his disapproval, saying, “Birmingham Airport need to improve their SLA’s. Shortage of baggage staff means not a single bag gets loaded on flight to San Francisco.”

For many, this chaos made for an unwelcome and distinctly unpleasant start to the summer travel season.

Commenting on the situation on Wednesday, a spokesperson for BHX told the Birmingham Mail, “The airport regrets to inform passengers travelling from Birmingham that they may suffer delays today as a result of Swissport’s staff absence. Birmingham Airport is doing everything in its power to support Swissport, and sincerely apologizes for the impact this is having on passengers travelling through Birmingham.”