Alaska Airlines workers caught on camera throwing around a suitcase
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If you're bored at work, there are a thousand different ways you can amuse yourself. You can play yogurt Jenga with all the Chobani cups in the break room fridge, change your email settings so every message is sent from Doctor Awesome, or join your coworkers to see who can throw a suitcase the farthest. A group of Alaska Airlines employees at Mineta San Jose International Airport chose the third option, and were filmed by a passenger as they played an unfortunate looking game that involved tossing a suitcase for distance.
The incident was filmed by San Jose resident Chase Platon, who was inside Terminal B at the airport. Platon watched the workers entertain themselves — even cheering each other on as the bag bounced across the pavement — for almost an hour before reporting them to a Southwest Airlines employee. According to SF Gate, he also (mistakenly) posted the video to Southwest's Facebook page, writing:
"Um Southwest, is this how you treat all our bags? My brother and I witnessed this at San Jose Mineta."
Although the baggage mishandlers were initially identified as Southwest workers, they were later determined to be Alaska Airlines employees. "[Southwest] tried to justify it by saying it may not be a customer bag," Platon told NBC Bay Area.
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Alaska said more or less the same thing. An Alaska Airlines spokesperson told the news station:
"Regrettably, our employees were tossing a company rollaboard bag that was filled with magazines as part of an employee game. No passenger bag was used for this activity. This game should not have been played at the airport. The optics of this video are unfortunate and we apologize for any confusion this has caused San Jose travelers or Southwest Airlines."
Seriously, Alaska? It isn't the "optics of the video" that are unfortunate; it's the fact that these workers thought it would be cool to start winging suitcases while they were at work, especially when they were in full view of a terminal full of passengers who could start wondering if that bag was theirs.
Road Warrior Voices has reached out to Alaska Airlines for additional comment.