Manchester Airport asks FIREFIGHTERS to load baggage belts amid staffing crisis

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Manchester Airport bosses have asked firefighters to work on the baggage belts amid a workforce shortage, it's been claimed - sparking fears of more disruption and queues for passengers in the busy summer months ahead.

As the aviation sector was savaged by the pandemic, it’s estimated there were more than 2,000 redundancies made from Manchester Airport. They included around 700 people employed directly by the hub, including in management positions, and more than 1,500 by outside employers like baggage handling agents and airlines.

Now travel restrictions are lifting, passenger numbers are on the rise, and plans to reopen Terminal 3 are also in the pipeline. But questions are being raised around whether there will be the workforce to meet demand in what Manchester Airport bosses have described as an 'extremely challenging' labour market.

READ MORE: Pictures show chaos at Manchester Airport as passengers complain of 'mile long queues'

One MAG staff member who asked not to be named told the Manchester Evening News : “It’s been so bad that they have been asking firefighters, engineers and parking staff to offload the bags onto the conveyors in the Arrivals hall.

“I think the summer is going to be horrendous, at this rate we just won’t have the staff, and morale is already low.

"I just hope that we get the staff we need in time and get back to normal."

It’s understood firefighters refused to take on the baggage duties, although staff from other departments have stepped up to help.

The staffing shortage, with bosses struggling to fill the vacancies left by the mass exodus, is understood to have hit a range of departments, including Security and agencies which handle passengers' baggage. It's sparked fears among insiders