London’s Gatwick Airport is promising free home delivery of checked baggage in hopes of avoiding a re-run of last weekend, when a shortage of handlers reportedly left some passengers waiting four hours to be re-united with their bags during one of Britain's busiest air travel periods.
Airport officials blame the bag delays on Swissport UK, the Telegraph reported, which provides baggage handling services for many airlines. In a statement, Gatwick said Swissport failed to meet service standards set by the airport and “[a]lthough bags are being delivered on time for 95% of flights, this is not good enough.” In its apology statement, Swissport said it hopes to minimize inconvenience that might occur “during any times of future schedule disruption.”
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