Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Five Saudi Arabian Airlines' employees at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh were Tuesday fired from their jobs following their poor and careless handling of passengers' luggage at the conveyor belt. The General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) announced this after thoroughly investigating the poor ground service at the airport's conveyor belt. The incident of mishandling the baggage came to light after a video clip went viral. The clip showed two baggage handlers passing luggage carelessly — literally throwing bags and suitcases on the conveyor belt after retrieving it from the luggage hold. The action of the handlers triggered a strong reaction among social media users. Many criticized the services being offered at the airports and also blamed poor handling for damages to their belongings. Some even called for more discipline and system at the airports. GACA set up a committee to investigate the matter and it reviewed the video clip in question before arriving at the decision. On Tuesday, GACA announced that the services of two supervisors and three baggage handlers, who were found responsible for this callous action showing no professional commitment to their work, have been terminated. GACA also expressed its apologies following the incident and stressed that it will not hesitate to implement regulations that organizes work at Saudi airports. It noted that it will ensure providing efficient services to its passengers based on set procedures. The statement also said that GACA is to implement a new system for baggage handling at the new terminals of all airports. Leading Swiss company Swissport will start operating toward the end of thw year and that will end the monopoly, added the statement.
