Two baggage handlers have been fired after they were filmed hurling passengers' bags onto a conveyor belt, in footage that began circulating online.
In the video a man can be seen driving through the inner workings of what is understood to be a UK airport.
It then cuts to two other men wearing bright yellow jackets moving suitcases and wheelie bags from a luggage truck onto the conveyor belt.
Rather than picking them up and placing them down, they instead hurl them onto the belt with no apparent concern for the contents of the bags.
One can be seen bouncing off the track as it is thrown roughly a metre by the baggage handler as his colleague is heard laughing behind the camera.
The footage appears to have been deleted from TikTok after being posted over the weekend.
A spokesperson for DHL Supply Chain said: “While this isn’t new footage, the behaviour of the two agency workers responsible is clearly unacceptable and both individuals have since been removed from our operations.”
It is understood that the incident took place in a UK airport at the end of November.
The video claims that it was filmed in Gatwick Airport and involved bags for an easyJet flight, but neither of these points are evident from the video and could not be verified separately.
The incident comes after several months in which passengers have had to undergo long waits for their bags due to staffing shortages at travel hubs.
There have also been many reports of bags not being loaded onto planes before taking off, or ending up in the wrong destination.
Numerous airports have admitted having problems hiring the right quantities and experienced enough baggage handlers following the coronavirus lockdowns, during which many were laid off or moved into other professions.
The lengthy security clearance process required to work in airports has been partially blamed for the staffing issues.
A similar incident was filmed at Melbourne Airport in Australia earlier this month.
Three baggage handlers were filmed recklessly throwing luggage onto a conveyor belt behind the baggage claim area.
The employees, who were working on Qantas flights, were stood down immediately after the footage was shared online.
In the minute-long clip, the three men in high-vis jackets, are seen unloading a Qantas-branded luggage container.
They deliberately throw the suitcases high into the air, then slam them onto a conveyor belt.
