Does this occur with Swissport elsewher, or with other handling agents?
Its not just BHX, and its not just Swissport. Airline ground handling is a funny business. Especially in the last few years, the airlines are constantly demanding cheaper ground handling contracts, and to win these contracts the ground handlers are ever more squeezing the operation to deliver these lower prices. All of a sudden they find themselves in the situation of loads of contracts, but barely making ends meet as the revenues on them are so bad. Staff morale goes down, service levels go down.... etc its a viscious circle.
It wasn't all that long ago that Swissport were the smallest BHX agent, now they're the biggest. At what price? Its a pattern that gets seen a lot accross the industry. The companies that lost the contracts to Swissport will have taken the chance to sort out their issues, build up service levels, and will be poised to snap up contracts IF Swissport looses them. Then the circle starts again...
This is by no means a hard and fast rule, just indicative of what can, does, and has happened, not just with Swissport and not just at BHX. Until the airlines wise up and realise that they need to pay for a decent service it will continue. But then, with the airlines now concentrating so much on expenditure, will that ever happen? Funny old industry...