An Iberia Express flight left without its luggage being loaded after severe staffing shortages meant there was no one to load the luggage. Passengers departing the Manchester Airport were nonplussed and still hadn’t received their bags 3 days after their flight.
Staffing shortages meant no baggage handlers were available to load luggage onto a departing Iberia Express flight last week. The Spanish carrier was departing the UK’s Manchester Airport bound for Madrid Spain and left without any of the passengers’ luggage being loaded according to the Manchester Evening News.
Passengers reportedly didn’t even know their luggage wasn’t loaded and some waited around for over an hour in Madrid after their flight landed before eventually being informed their luggage didn’t make it.
“Every time we call they say they have no information,” said a passenger named Ellen in comments to the Manchester Evening News. She further added, “They have not given us any information and just keep saying they are looking for it. They just say it has not been scanned into the system. It has not been touched by a baggage handler.”
One passenger noted he’d checked a very expensive laptop for the flight and had no idea if it was safe or not. Luggage was scheduled to be sent on September 14th.
The Manchester Evening News received this comment from Iberia Express: “On the 11th of September on flight IB3693 MAN-MAD, the checked baggage could not be loaded onto the aeroplane due to the lack of handling agents from our handling provider in Manchester. Upon arrival in Madrid, we informed all of the passengers about the lack of checked luggage and, as you said, it was explained to them that all essential expenses incurred can be claimed back and reimbursed by the company once they have been analysed.”
Like many travel entities in a post-pandemic world, the Manchester Airport has been severely hampered by staffing shortages which have resulted in flight delays, lost luggage, long lines, and passenger frustration.
