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Frontline worker warns board of baggage‑handling jams, injuries and missed connections
Summary
A Unify employee, Joe Kennedy, told the authority that the new bag‑belt system has produced longer jams, employee injuries and passenger delays; he urged more frontline input, collaborative problem‑solving and a dedicated plan to reduce jam response times.
Joe Kennedy, an employee of Unify who works in baggage operations, told the board the new baggage‑belt system has caused recurring jams that take longer to clear, resulting in injuries, damaged equipment and passengers missing connections.
"When it's not 9 to 5, we have to call the off‑duty phone," Kennedy said, describing response times that sometimes range "from 1 to 20 minutes" and recounting jams that lasted as long as 45 minutes. He said employees have been injured and that, in some cases, staff had to break equipment to clear jams. Kennedy urged a more collaborative model between operators, airlines, TSA and airport management and recommended that the board hold a focused session with station managers and frontline staff to gather fixable, operational recommendations.
Board members thanked Kennedy for raising concerns. Several members said the bags‑waiting complaint is a top customer service issue and directed staff to pursue input from airline station managers, to document vendor commitments and to return to the board with a plan to reduce jams and improve response procedures.
The board acknowledged that some interim manual workarounds exist while the new system is commissioning and asked staff to prioritize a technical review and a frontline engagement process.
