Handling companies at Schiphol Airport are overusing trainees with no experience or training to make up for staff shortages, NH Nieuws reported on March 2.
According to the publication, the service companies Menzies, Swissport and Aviapartner mostly abuse apprentices. Inexperienced trainees typically work with passengers, baggage, and aircraft maintenance.
“There are young girls here, 18 or 19 years old, who often tremble with fear because they don’t know what to do with the passengers who swear at the check-in counter.” said one of the Schiphol employees.
The trainees often work the night shift for days, checking in hundreds of passengers on their own and even monitoring and connecting the bridges between the airport and the plane, he said. After an internship, they hardly ever stay with the company, the woman added.
The trainees who entered the baggage department do not know how to properly load the plane, which can lead to dangerous situations, another employee at the airport in the Dutch capital said.
“Your mistakes can be fatal”, he thinks.
Experienced employees say interns can put passengers on the wrong flights, send luggage to the wrong platform or onto the wrong plane.
“Mistakes like this cause additional delays in the work,” they notice
The service companies deny these accusations. They insist that the rules of the internship be strictly observed and an experienced mentor be assigned to each intern.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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