I work at a semi busy airport in western canada. We marshall in the aircraft, and push it back. We unload all the bags and load it as well as service the lavatory and fill the water. In the winter months we de ice and anti ice the aircrafts.

Ask away!

Proof: http://imgur.com/RJEeVUH

Edit: Sorry for the short replies everyone. This has been kind of overwhelming but im just trying to get to as many questions as possible. Also if i dont answer your question, its likely i have already answered it a couple times. Just read through the thread.

Edit 2: its now 1am and im gonna head to bed! Ill answer some more in the morning! Thanks for all the questions guys. Keep em coming if you feel like it.

Edit 3: stinkekona is answering alot of questions for you guys. He is a reputable source so feel free to ask him as well! I cant get to everyone!

Comments: 3993 • Responses: 43  • Date: 

WaxFaster2094 karma

I recently went on a trip and one of my checked bags was opened had a TSA inspection slip in it, along with someone else's pants.

Are they your pants?

Scaryxbusey2238 karma

Yes they are

waskonator1703 karma

How many times was it a bomb?

How many times was it a dildo?

Scaryxbusey3816 karma

Its usually a tooth brush but ive seen a few dildos haha

Had a bomb threat a little while back but it was just some dude in drugs scared he was gonna miss his plane and thought if he called in a bomb threat it would delay it.... hes in jail

WaffleEater1231607 karma

Is it fun to tow the big airplanes with the little cart?

Scaryxbusey2074 karma

Yah its probably one of my favourite parts of the job besides de-icing

Desecr8or1189 karma

Do you ever just completely run out of room for luggage?

Scaryxbusey1738 karma

Very rare but it happens. If you have a rookie stacking the pit he might run iut of room. But if a load is that heavy we will get an more experienced employee to do it.

DavoinShower-handle952 karma

A lot of times it looks like you guys are being deliberately rough with the bags. Like, it looks like you're putting a lot of effort and giving them some hang time when tossing them. I get that you can't be overly gentle, but are folks overly rough just because fuck the world?

Scaryxbusey1276 karma

Well we have strict time frames. So we have twenty minutes between when we chock the tires and when we put the last bag on the arrivals belt. If we are out of this time frame alot we get in shit so we gotta be movin quick.

PM_ME_CABBAGE831 karma

When I go to the airport just to connect to another flight, how does my luggage go to the correct plane?

Scaryxbusey874 karma

As soon as we take connecting bags off a plane, they get sent back to the bag room to be put on the correct flight

PM_ME_CABBAGE404 karma

So are connecting bags typically the "First off" a plane? Essentially, if I have a connection, am I more likely to get my bags off the carousel before someone that did not have a connection?

Scaryxbusey673 karma

Well the cargo hold is seperated into 6 compartments. And we know where all the connections will be because we get a load sheet prior. Typically connecting bags wont get put on the belt, we usually just keep them in the back until the flight unless the passenger requests it. Than we will just hand deliver it to the front counter

powderedtoastman21606 karma

Are you required to go through airport security every day?

Scaryxbusey848 karma

Yep! It is usually random searches

Scaryxbusey575 karma

Sorry everyone was grooming a plane. Next plane is landing right now so i will answer more when i am in an hour. Nice to see all the other rampies here answering questions too

IvyJ555 karma

What is your biggest complaint about passengers luggage habits?

Scaryxbusey1177 karma

People that over pack their bags. Alot of times people jam so much in their bags that the zipper busts and all their stuff falls out. Its no fun for either party lol

Oilfield___Trash495 karma

What do you make an hour?

Scaryxbusey771 karma

$13.50

ljnr441 karma

A family friend who has the same job accidentally stored a cat in the baggage compartment and the cat subsequently froze to death during the flight. How easily can this happen? Has it happened to you/any of your colleagues?

Scaryxbusey588 karma

You know what, i heard of this happening to a puppy a while back. All animals go into the pit so i dont see how it doesnt happen all the time. The pilots have to be told there is an animal on board though so they may be able to seal the pit better so it doesnt get as cold? Maybe no one told the pilots on that flight

spongebue367 karma

Would you still like me if I told you I'm the guy who loaded the bags handles in on that plane you're unloading? Or did you not like me in the first place?

Scaryxbusey364 karma

Ughhh HATE you lol

PM_ME_CABBAGE302 karma

How cold does it get in the winter? Is it at all warm in the cargo bay when you are loading a plane?

Scaryxbusey646 karma

Where i work it only gets down to probably -20 so its not bad. The pits are usually cold but you are busting your ass in there so it gets warm

GoldFingerPuppet262 karma

I'm often concerned that a cargo loader won't know what he/she is doing and overload one section of the craft, thus causing a dangerouly imbalanced aircraft. Is this an irrational fear, and how do you measure the load you're stacking in there?

Scaryxbusey356 karma

Westjet has people that plan the load accordingly before hand and we load the bags exactly where they tell us. After we load them we call them snd confirm weights and everythinf

Eggneefia243 karma

Weirdest piece of luggage you've encountered?

Scaryxbusey599 karma

A golden eagle

Meph248209 karma

I fly with a bicycle in my luggage, big box full of bike. Does anyone ever care for the "fragile" sign on the box?

Oh, and are these oversized luggages, sport equipment like bikes, kayaks or surfboards, a big hassle for you guys?

Scaryxbusey255 karma

They arent too bad considering we took off a pallet with a bunch of mining equipment on it wrapped together that was 850lbs lol. We take care of bikes here

Scaryxbusey180 karma

Im at work currently everyone so i wont be able to answer really quick. Ill answer whenever i can though

dratthecookies167 karma

How does luggage get lost, and where does it go?

Scaryxbusey276 karma

To be honest i dont know. I could see it happening at bigger airports due to the traffic but where i work is pretty chill so it would be hard to lose someones bag

Fuck_Best_Buy163 karma

Do you give a fuck if you break something?

Scaryxbusey343 karma

Usually we will let the airline know via radio if we break something and they will relay it to the guest. We dont really communicate with the public very much. If its somethinf big like an electric wheelchair that gets broken, we have to do incident reports for our boss

kevoklm325 karma

"guest". You obviously work for Westjet ;)

Scaryxbusey286 karma

Yep haha

FM3i_Diaon154 karma

I'm going to travel transatlantic in a few days anything I should do to make your coworkers life more enjoyable and easy?

Scaryxbusey276 karma

Thats nice of you. Just dont wrap your bag in shrink wrap. Alot if rampies hate that

oliversjgilmour141 karma

Have you ever stolen anything from someone's luggage?

Scaryxbusey304 karma

Most definitely not. Havent heard of any of my coworkers doing it either. The odd thing will fall out of someones bag in the pit and we will either just shove it back in or let the airline know via radio and put it through the belt seperately.

oliversjgilmour82 karma

D you enjoy your job?

Scaryxbusey226 karma

It is actually quite a fun job but it isn't the best pay unfortunately

oliversjgilmour67 karma

What was the weirdest thing you ever encountered on your shift?

Scaryxbusey87 karma

Hmm ill think on that one and reply in a bit lol. There has been a few

oliversjgilmour72 karma

Do any bags stink like absolute shit?

Scaryxbusey324 karma

Hockey bags smell so bad

DudeInDistress139 karma

I fly business class. I get the 'priority' tag but I usually receive the luggage last.

What gives?

Scaryxbusey192 karma

Sorry cant really answer this one cause the airline i work for doesnt really use those.

sirnumbskull98 karma

Are you going to destroy my nice bike if I try to check it?

Scaryxbusey281 karma

No way. Fellow biker here, i treat bikes like gold

jlo8091 karma

I have a "I heart baggage handlers" tag on my luggage.

Is it doing any good?

Scaryxbusey106 karma

Actually yes

Xenomorph-7963 karma

Have you heard of Tom Hanks walking around the airport?

Scaryxbusey49 karma

Cant say i have?

PleaseCallMeDoge54 karma

How loud can it get on a busy runway?

Scaryxbusey83 karma

The biggest plane we deal with is a 737 which isnt too too loud

RanthersReallyRuck41 karma

Is there any logic to when bags are loaded vs unloaded? For example, I was the last guy on a flight (standby) and so they gate checked the bag. Should have therefore been first off right? But it was more like in the middle.

Scaryxbusey45 karma

Unloaded not really. We offload bags onto the arrivals belt at random

spaceman_spiffy12 karma

Why do baggage handlers but bags on the conveyor belt upside down? They seem to do this on purpose but I'm not sure why.

Scaryxbusey14 karma

Just the way they are stacked and the way we pull them off the cart

misskaylajane8 karma

How do you become a runway agent? Are there any specific requirements?

Scaryxbusey17 karma

Nope! Just have to have a clean record. Need to be cleared by transport canada

minicpst8 karma

Do you take any special consideration when you see someone's carseat coming toward you?

I think reading your responses to others, I'm very very happy my cats have always been in cabin with me whenever they've flown (not often, just when we've moved).

Scaryxbusey18 karma

Carseats, strollers, wheelchaids etc are usually handled very gently

Rafikim5 karma

I know that planes are essentially towed by little, strong cart things. But, is that all the time when the plane is grounded? Can the plane ever move under its own power on the ground (besides when it has just landed)?

Scaryxbusey15 karma

We just have to push it back because they dont reverse! They can turn and go forward on their own on the ramp

____DEADPOOL_______2 karma

Why did you break the wheels off my bag? :(

Scaryxbusey2 karma

Man the amount of wheels that accumalate in pits is insane

raxreddit1 karma

Recently, my check-in luggage arrived at the destination opened (possible zipper issue and clothes fell out).

How often does baggage open up and the stuff falls out? Also, what do you do when stuff falls out of the luggage?

Thanks for your hard work

Scaryxbusey2 karma

We try our best to pack everything back in. We let westjet know via radio and when we drop it off at arrivals, we slide it through the oversize door instead of the belt so that it can be handled easier and doesnt spill more

Schlewey1 karma

How often do you actually lose luggage??

Scaryxbusey2 karma

Sometimes a bag will go the wrong destination unfortunately. Maybe a couple a week

Jilly_Willy1 karma

Do you gently place the luggage or toss it all about?

Scaryxbusey3 karma

Honestly, it gets tossed around a bit

BlazeMasterFunk1 karma

Are you ever the reason for my 45 minute flight delay?

Scaryxbusey3 karma

Very rarely. We are usually ready to go WELL before the rest of the crew is