Edinburgh airport suspends customer helpline as staff face abuse
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Edinburgh airport suspended its customer helpline at the weekend to “protect staff” from abusive language from passengers.
The airport said removing the phone line would allow teams to work through a backlog of queries, mostly about luggage.
It said on Monday morning (July 18) that it has “partially reopened” the phone line and is texting details of baggage handlers to customers asking about their luggage.
The BBC said hundreds of missing bags belonging to passengers are being stored at a warehouse near the airport.
The airport’s website said rising passenger numbers have prompted “a sharp rise in the amount of baggage queries coming into our customer support team”.
“While we have been trying to provide advice where we can, it’s important to note that as an airport we don’t handle baggage. That’s a process handled by airlines and their handling agents,” it said.
“We know this may be frustrating, but all we can do is provide contact details for the handling agents operating at EDI.
“Sadly, when relaying these messages our hard-working staff have often been faced with abusive language and unacceptable behaviour. We are reminding people to be kind and show some consideration for the person on the other end of the phone. They are only doing their job.”
It said handling agents at the airport are Swissport, Menzies and WFS, and outlined which airline uses which agent.
An Edinburgh airport spokesperson told the BBC about 90% of the queries its customer support team are dealing with relate to baggage.
“In order to allow our teams to work through a backlog of airport queries, and to protect them from this verbal abuse, we have taken the decision to temporarily suspend the phone lines,” said the spokesperson.
The move came after a cross-party group of MSPs urged travellers at Scottish airports to stop abusing staff.
The Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Aviation said staffing levels are recovering and Scottish airports are “faring better” than others in the UK.
“We’ve also heard that passengers have been abusing staff and that is completely unacceptable and it just adds to the pressure they are under,” MSPs added.