Can we blame Ryanair and Easyjet and all the other low cost carriers?
The root of the main issues mentioned on this thread is money, which is driven by the airlines wanting to pay less and less but expect more and more from the ground service providers. Hence the tongue in cheek blaming of the above airlines.
Does this mean we should blame the fare paying public that want to pay buttons for their annual get away and the demand for EZY and RYR who are in turn driving down costs
Equipment is outdated and poorly maintained, with some stuff being 40+ years old
The ground handling agency dont invest enough in equipment. The stuff my company uses was built by the romans.
I think this varies massively between handlers, in the UK at least, and whether they purchase or lease kit.
Aircraft design is another factor. I am a fan of Airbus but the idiot who thought of making the A319 with a containerised option should be shot! The clearance between a conventional high loader and the No. 2 engine when positioned on the forward hold is the proverbial cigarette paper. This encourages the driver to position at an angle and increases the possibility for damage. The company I work for had to invest in two smaller High Loaders for 2 flights a day because we had 2 incidents of damage in 6 months using the regular high loaders and the only sure way to prevent re-occurrence was to invest in expensive specialist equipment.
Sounds like the company tried to "get away with it" with the wrong GSE (unless the carrier changed the a/c type) to save costs.
GA