Well then, what a night.
I try not to do much overtime since I'm knackered from the 4 days/nights I do. But they were desperate and a bit of arm-twisting made me agree to 2 extra nights. 1st extra night, no dramas. Last night - due to the weather turned into fucking chaos. 33 last minute cancellations, many with passengers already onboard. And their bags in the hold. Getting the passengers off and de-controlled is easy enough, but getting the bags off once they're loaded is another matter, when the loading/offloading team are busy still trying to sort out the flights that ARE actually going to depart.
Before too long, hundreds of passengers in baggage reclaim and none of their bags being brought back. Front of House staff doing their best to arrange hotel accommodation to those delayed overnight, and most of them fucking off sharpish at 2200 despite being offered x3 pay and £200 to stay longer.
1 particular passenger had left the reclaim area, gone through customs and arrived at Front of House stating she didn't get her bag and had vital medication in it.
I'm trying to sort out what planes are where, what ones aren't coming back tonight and thus which ones need cleaning.
Then comes the phone call...from the big, big boss. "TMR, no-one available Front of House to take medication needing lady back through security to baggage reclaim to get her bag/medication, can "you" do it." For "you" read "must".
Off I trot, Front of House calm, few passengers about, she sees old shaved headed bloke in hi-viz jacket and runs straight at me. So I checked her boarding pass, confirmed it was the right passenger and said "off we go", easy peasy. Escort back through customs, small walk to the reclaim belt to get her bag, walk her back though the "red" channel.
Turn the corner to witness the seething mass of passengers who have been waiting 4+ hours for their bags. I'm suddendly a human magnet and am swarmed by finger pointing, spitting and agressive passengers. And I don't blame them.
Since I have escorted this lady through, she cannot leave my side as she has been landside and is only allowed airside if escorted. She witnesses the full horror of pissed-iff passengers, but she cannot leave my side. And then the cherry on the top...her bag is STILL on a plane and hasn't been offloaded for 4 hours. I cannot leave her, neither can I take her back landside until she gets her bag/medication.
She's a tiny thing, probably only 18 years old. I make many phone calls, with people shouting in my ear, to the big, big boss telling him to get the fucking Gibraltor bags to reclaim NOW. Only problem is, they don't know where the plane is...it was towed to a remote stand to make way for inbound flights.
After an hour of being abused, spat at, told I am a bald cunt (which is probably true) the girl needing the medication shouted loudly that "I need to get a drink from the vending machine over there". The other shouty passengers heard and I announced that I had to escort her. Half way to the vending machine she told me she only said it to get me away from the baying mob. I could have kissed her.
10 minutes later her bag eventually turned up and I escorted through the "red" channell out of the airport. "Where is Sofitel?", she asked. Perfect opportunity...it's about 300 yards away, but obscured by the car park. Walked her to the hotel, had a couple of cigarettes, went back through security intending to back to the office...
...but then was accosted by a bunch of passengers whose Belfast flight had been cancelled. They had been "de-controlled" though International Arrivals (standard procedure, even for domestic flights) but, for some reason, their bags had been put on the domestic reclaim belts - totally separate area. No way they can retrieve them. Clusterfuck. Being of Belfast heritage I probably had more sympathy, but this was actually something I could do something about. If those bags were there, I could get them and bring them onto the International Arrival belts, so I asked them to give me 10 minutes to walk round and see if they were there - and they were. Only about 50 or so. Went back into the passengers and told them I had found them and to give me 20 minutes or so to get a baggage buggy and carts to move them round to where they could retieve them. Off I trot again, buggy, baggage cart off round to Domestic reclaim and manually move all 47 bags the 100 yards or so on to the baggage cart outside. Knackered. Realise I'm not 44 anymore. Back round to International arrivals, requested belt 3 as there is a door through to the passenger reclaim area so I could call them all over. Parked the buggy and cart, opened the door and called them - they came scampering over. Closed the door, offloaded all 47 bags in 4 minutes and went straight back through the door to apologise for the delay. Every single passenger took time to thank me for helping and I have a whole heap of Guinnness waiting for me in Belfast when I next go. Lovely, patient people.
Went back to the office. Had a coffee. Briefed all the baggage boys and girls, sent all reports including the "Shift handover report" including my free text stating that "TMR was sent, as a sacrificial lamb, to baggage reclaim as the big, big, boss was too scared to face them himself."
I was meant to stay until 0545, I left at 0445, sod the extra money...I met the big, big boss in the smoking area about 0330 and he thanked me but could offer no explanation why he wasn't there. "Busy" apparently. Poof. And he's huge, makes Schwartzenegger look like Twiggy.
I'm rambling, goodnight. Apparently a company Counsellor is going to ring me today to see if I need need support...
