‘Soft landing’ for flyers’ baggage at Kolkata airport

KOLKATA: Kolkata airport has posted employees with softboards at registered baggage retrieval conveyor belts to ensure bags do not get damaged when they drop down the steep slope of the carousel and hit the steel guardrail.

The change came into effect after several passengers complained about poor handling of bags at Kolkata airport. Some passengers posted videos of how bags were treated with care in Japan and Thailand, with airport staff wielding softboards to minimise the impact of bags striking the carousel guardrail.

Last week, industrialist Harsh Goenka posted a video of airport staff at an airport in Japan using cushion pads at the point where the baggage slides down the carousel and hits the steel guardrail. On Monday, a video of Kolkata airport emulating the practice surfaced.
“Last week, I tweeted about how every luggage is treated well in China/Japan. So, delighted that my home city #Kolkata has got inspired to do the same,” Goenka tweeted on Monday while sharing the four-second video.
An official of Kolkata airport said that while the system had been in place at the airport for some time, the frequency of such baggage handlers at every conveyor belt had been increased after Goenka’s tweet went viral last week.
“We have increased manpower at the conveyor belts to ensure extra care is taken for baggage, especially during the rush hour,” an official added.
Passengers said there have been multiple instances of large trolley bags and suitcases getting damaged because of mishandling. While a damaged or lost wheel is the most common complaint, a dent and breakage of the fabric casing often get reported as well. Thus, many passengers securely wrap the cases by applying a protective cover over the bag to guard against scuffs and scratches.
While many lauded the system and demanded other airports to follow suit, a large section of flyers termed the change as “cosmetic” and claimed it to be wastage of manpower. “It is also important to see how luggage has been unloaded from the plane, loaded onto the van, removed from the van and put on the belt before entering the collection area. This is cosmetic,” wrote Anooj Moda, a passenger, on Twitter.
Another flyer Vipul Shah wrote: “Wouldn't it make more sense to have a cushion fixed in that part of the conveyor instead of a man standing there?”