Felicityv

My last flight out of Delhi included a tug of war between me and a "baggage handler" as soon as I got out of the car to enter the terminal. He literally would not let go of my suitcase until I gave him 10 USD! This was witnessed by the policeman at the terminal entrance. who made no effort to intervene.
Disgusting!!!

Ken in Phx

When's the last time a teaching salary was low? Great hours, holidays off. 9 month work years. Overly generous pension packages.

You might as well add teaching salariers into the overpaid catagory. And still there are defenders who claim they are under paid.

The problem with watching a Skycap for ten minutes then multiplying by 12,000 for a yearly salary is that there are slow times or times when people dont tip. So if its busy then you'll get a number that isnt correct. Conversely if its slow you'll get the opposite.

Ken in Phx

flyrights

I fully understand and accept that some might feel some teachers are overpaid... yes, a reasonable argument could be made for that... but teachers are supposedly educated people, who, in most cases, deserve to make more and be rewarded more than NON-educated people...

Skycapping is NOT brain surgery. Yes, there will be low times, but there are also holiday times that probably balance things out... I am certain most of them are making over $100 a day in cash tips, and more like $200 or even $300 PER DAY.

Especially when someone does come along with lots of excess baggage, that a $25 tip might take care of... but I just wish things could be a little more honest... like Skycaps posting a big sign: "WE ACCEPT BRIBES HERE FOR EXCESS BAGGAGE, THEY DON'T ACCEPT BRIBES INSIDE..." Or how about "TIPPING NOT REQUIRED". Is that asking too much?

And what goes on in New Delhi, I can assure you is NOTHING compared to what goes on in this country at curbside. At least the guy in New Delhi was being clear about what he wanted. In this country, the loud and agressive "THANK YOU", repeated six times over, indicated he expected a tip for doing his job, is not only a disgrace, but makes a lot of people prefer to stay home and not travel.

fromYYZ_flyer

I'm not lazy and I show up on time before a flight. No need to pay some guy to check my bags for me. I'm happy to wait in line like a regular guy and check them myself so I know they will go to BWI instead of BGI. I do not let my baggage out of sight until it goes down the belt to the sorting room.

l etoile

The OP's premise that these people are getting a decent salary plus benefits plus tips is faulty. While that may have been true in the past, every story I've read about skycaps recently says they make minimum wage plus tips, receive no benefits, and work for contractors. SFO airport contracts with Premium Service Management for skycaps; OAK contracts with Huntleigh. You'll find the same throughout the country. There is no skycaps union.The airline bag fee has caused people to stop or greatly reduce tipping.

From the Dallas Morning News w/r/t AA:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...2.9660edc.html

One of several recent (January 2006) comments to USAToday after a story about charging for bags with skycaps:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/sky/2005/1...ands_fee_.html

BigLar

Now, now ... don't get all huffy.

More like traditional in that you had to be gay to be a chorus boy at one time. May still be true.

The pullman porters were like stewards in the Navy -- they were always black or (in the case of stewards) Phillipino. No rules, that's just the way it was. I think it had to do with the fact that us good, decent white folks couldn't imagine them in any other role than subservient. And, of course, for a lot of regular jobs, "Colored need not apply".

The hotel maid situation (which is vigorously defended by Bill Marriott) is a case of exploitation because we can. Capitalism at it's finest. Can't find Americans to work for the .... wages they pay.

flyrights

As recently as a few weeks ago, I saw AA skycaps at LAX, in AA uniforms, with AA badges on. I hope they do contract out... and if they aren't allowed to inform people THEY don't get the $2 per bag, they automatically go into the loud and agressive, "THANK YOU" six times, getting louder, routine.

I still stand by my assertion that whatever their take home pay is, it is probably TOO MUCH, due to the large amount of tips they get... and it's not like when you tip a waiter/waitress... they get their tip AFTER they have served you... you give them what you feel the service warranted. With SKYCAPS, there is this fear that if you DON'T tip what they want, your bags can DISAPPEAR... and I am certain that they do. You have seen them put your luggage on those carts, that sometimes remain out on the curb/sidewalk for a while... and who knows where they go... maybe they go to a "holding room", where the skycap can "hold" on to your bag for just long enough to miss the flight. And I'm so paranoid that I think the skycaps actually sit around and devise ways of teaching non-tippers a lesson or two. In short, they want people that read boards like this to CONTINUE to have that fear, which I believe we all do.

Ask yourself: is it worth the risk to lose my luggage, rather than give into some extortion by a thug-ish skycap? NO, it's not worth the risk... but instead of giving into the extortion, go check your bags INSIDE.

Alternatively, I would be in favor of having a NO TIPPING ALLOWED sign and policy, and charging a little more, maybe $3 or $4 per checked bag, and having skycaps get paid a fair salary, maybe $8 per hour. And if any skycap even hinted at a tip, they could be fired ON THE SPOT. I believe nothing turns people OFF more than to be reminded to tip.

doctall41

Distancing from this conversation.

See ya!

l etoile

flyrights: Just wanted to make it clear that what you quoted and attributed to me was not something I said. I was quoting a skycap. I am not a skycap, nor do I work for tips. People are welcome to give me money if they like though.


To the topic ... I suspect what will happen very soon is that there will be no skycaps. If people aren't tipping because they're being charged for the service, which I suspect is true, skycaps have little reason to keep a $5.15-an-hour job with no benefits. My guess is that soon enough skycaps will only be a memory.

Ken in Phx

This is very funny. Either you have an incredibly witty and sarcastic sense of humor oryou need 1,000's of dollars of psych help. Either way, this is the funniest thing I've read on Flyertalk in a while. Thx

secretbunnyboy

So, err, you don't know how much they're paid as basic, you don't know what their benefits are, you don't know how many hours they work, and apparantly you don't have an accurate idea of how much they're tipped, either.

Your life must be very comfortable if you count this as extortion!

FlyingNone

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Not likely. This will just be another job handed over to illegal immigrants with the overused line....... "jobs Americans don't want to do"...... - NOT THAT I WANT TO GET STARTED ON THAT SUBJECT.

snorkmaster

Frankly, from a customer service perspective, I think airport operators (airport authorities, etc.) ought to convince tenant airlines that they can provide skycap service more professionally and economically (rather than have several contract firms on the front curb.)

Then, the airport operators can hire whomever they like, charge $2/bag (or whatever), pay their employees a decent wage, and, implement a no tipping as well.

I see skycaps shakedown customers for tips at DTW every day and it disgusts me every time...