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“He who has the damage need not worry about the ridicule,” says an old proverb. In my case, it was the other way around: It was annoying that my suitcases were left at Munich airport. For me as a private person. For me as a journalist, on the other hand, it was a stroke of luck. After I reported on the baggage chaos at MUC – the international abbreviation for the airport in Erdinger Moos – several insiders contacted me. Your interior views from Munich Airport left me speechless. What they reported to me was more reminiscent of what you would expect from a third world airport.
A whole waiting hall full of suitcases, some of which already have maggots crawling out of them because they’ve been sitting there for months. Sniffer dogs to check suitcases for food because of this – which is then burned when the dogs strike to prevent further consequences. According to an insider, there are 16,000 suitcases hanging around. Another even reports a multiple of this number. Accordingly, up to the time of my report, only two (!) employees were assigned to the “processing”. Because there is a “shortage of skilled workers” in the land of unlimited citizen’s money. And because management failed, insiders say. Predicting a worsening of the problems.
After my report and my first video, which was viewed almost 2.5 million times(see here), “Bild” also picked up on the topic – without being fair enough to name me as the source. Most major media outlets, however, remain ironcladly silent. Although the detection of such conditions would be their task. And reports apparently also have some effect: According to insiders, the previously two-person “baggage search team” has since been slightly increased. Not groundbreaking, but still a small step forward.
The airport itself is stonewalling.
Insiders say the airport would be lying if it shifted responsibility to the airlines – the airport itself is responsible. This is exactly what “Turkish Airways” wrote to me (see below). Austrian Airways” wrote me that it had been very difficult to “get my suitcases out of Munich”, where they had been lying at Gate 2 of Terminal 1 for six days – after which everything had gone according to plan. When Munich was no longer responsible. Podgorica Airport in Montenegro turns out to be a pure service oasis – and embarrassed Munich to no end with its contrasting program (more in my video – in which I also reveal what became of the contents of the suitcases, especially the food after six days in the blazing sun on the tarmac).
Insiders also report leadership chaos at the airport – which is all about climate neutrality for this. And certainly on “diversity.”
I meticulously described everything in my press request, which I list below.
Instead of a concrete answer to my 16 very specific questions, I received, after about a week of silence, a short wishy-washy text that answers nothing and actually represents a refusal to provide information.
Instead, the circle of responsibility continues to turn. The airport’s press officer, referring to the legal situation, asked me to remove his name from my page in my first report about the chaos at the airport. Not taking responsibility and answering for nothing seems to be a new, sacred principle at Munich Airport (and not only there in Germany). In my journalism training, I had learned that press spokespersons also receive a high salary for vouching for their company or authority with their name. My lawyer, whom I contacted immediately, confirmed that the demand for deletion of the name by the press spokesman was inadmissible. He calls them a “joke.”
But now I recommend my press inquiry and the answer to you for reading – they are not only very entertaining, but in my eyes also a document of contemporary history.
You can find my video on the whole madness here.
My press inquiry from 18.9.2023
Dear Mr. Euting,
Unfortunately, you have not yet answered my inquiry of September 13.
The suitcase was found yesterday and is now on its way.
My video about the conditions at MUC has now been viewed almost 900,000 times (see here: https://rumble.com/v3hktm4-koffer.html
After several insiders contacted me in response to my reporting and pointed out massive internal grievances, I plan to do follow-up reporting on this and ask for timely answers to the following questions, which I plan to publish in the original together with your response and incorporate into a new video:
1) According to an insider, up to 16,000 suitcases were jammed at Munich Airport last week. Is this true? If not, how many suitcases were there last week and how many are there currently?
2) According to an insider, up until last week only two employees were busy sorting out the suitcases that had been left behind. According to a ground employee yesterday, some could be processed in the last few days (about 6000 suitcases), as the airport has freed up more capacity for this. Is this true? How many employees were assigned to the matter at the beginning of last week and how many are there currently? How many cases were processed?
3) An insider wrote to me: “They were lied to by the master of the airport. FMG, meaning MUC Airport, has been and still is responsible for baggage loading and sorting on your flight.
Do I understand correctly that you first wanted to fly with Austrian via Vienna and then a rebooking took place via Istanbul?
Since your baggage numbers start with TK for Turkish Airlines.
Nevertheless, for both Austrian and Turkish Airlines, the baggage handling service provider is FMG.”
Is the insider’s account of responsibilities accurate?
4) Why did you not explain the exact responsibilities to me despite my request?
5) Do the following statements by your employees apply in whole or in part (the first sentence refers to the location of my suitcase during its loss)? “This space at Terminal 1 is used for baggage drop-off, as there are currently 16,000! Suitcases pile up at Munich Airport, which have yet to be assigned to their owner.
The airport is running out of space, so every available spot is being used.
The oldest suitcases, which are lying around, have been there since about mid-July.”
6) Is the following statement by an employee true? “Two hundred baggage handlers have quit and gone to Amazon or Bottle Post.” If no – how many have quit? How many positions are currently unfilled in this area?
7) Is the following statement by an employee true? “Since other vacationers have also stored food in their luggage and these luggage have been exposed to the heat and sun for a long time, maggots are already running around in the older luggage.
This has the effect of starting to burn suitcases.”
How many suitcases were burned?
8) Why are lost suitcases stored in outdoor positions, despite high temperatures, and not indoors in a way that protects the luggage? Is the space missing?
9) Another employee writes about my specific suitcase: “My contacts also say that it is not possible to go there and simply pick out suitcases there and read them into the system.
The process must be followed.” Could you describe these processes?
10) An employee writes: “There are 2 baggage handlers at Munich Airport: Munich Airport itself (FMG) and Swissport Losch. The airlines never handle themselves. This was outsourced years ago like everything because own staff is too expensive. Allegedly. And now you have the salad. Swissport Losch stops in February https://www.merkur.de/wirtschaft/flughafen-muenchen-swissport-losch-bedroht-lufthansa-stellen-abbau-900-jobs-zr-90219146.html. In other words, from next year it will be even more disastrous than it already is.” What concrete steps have you taken to compensate for the loss of Swissport Losch?
11) Insiders report massive fractures in the management and accusations of mobbing against airport CEO Jost Lammers. Quote: “The management style is authoritarian; if someone falls out of favor, they are bullied until they quit themselves. Many employees do duty by the book and are happy about the airport’s failures in the hope that they will then stick to Lammers and he will have to go.” As these are serious allegations, I am happy to give you the opportunity to comment on them before publication.
Best thanks in advance and kind regards
Boris Reitschuster
reitschuster.de
Addendum from 19.9.2023
Dear Mr. Euting,
allow me to add to the list of questions based on further inside information I received:
12.) An insider says the number of stranded bags is even much higher than assumed and in six figures. Specifically, he says that the former Air Berlin waiting hall is well filled with stranded luggage, which he can prove with photos. Is this true? If so, how many pieces of luggage are stored there?
13.) The insider said that dogs examine the luggage in order to be alerted by the smell to food that is there. Luggage that was attacked by the dogs would be destroyed. Is this true? If so, how many pieces of luggage were destroyed?
14) According to insiders, the airport company is trying to fill the labor shortage with temporary workers. The problem, however, is that the safety inspection takes months. Therefore, attempts would be made to “poach” check-in employees to the check-in area, since they already had a security check, and to use the new temporary employees at the check-in, where no security check was necessary. However, few employees would want to switch. Is this true? If so, how many employees have changed?
15.) According to insiders, the length of the security check prevents new hires because potential applicants would have to wait months before they can start, and that discourages many. Is this true? If so, what problem-solving approaches does the airport have?
16.) According to insiders, one problem is that potential applicants come from states where the administration is very limited and it is difficult for them to obtain the required certificates of good conduct for the past five years. Is this true? If so, what problem-solving approaches does the airport have?
Best thanks in advance and kind regards
Boris Reitschuster
Response from airport spokesperson Henner Euting, 9/25/2023:
Dear Mr. Reitschuster,
referring to your email of 13.09., 18.09. and 19.09. some general information and information regarding your questions:
Flughafen München GmbH is the operator of Munich Airport. In this function, we provide, among other things, areas, such as taxiways, as well as premises, such as offices for flight operations and aircraft handling to airlines, authorities, etc.
Airlines are responsible for transporting their passengers and their baggage. As already mentioned, when purchasing an airline ticket, the passenger enters into a contract with the airline. Part of this contract is also always the “General Conditions of Carriage” of the respective airline. Here is an excerpt from the terms and conditions of Austrian Airlines, with which you had booked: “When you purchase a ticket for a flight operated by Austrian Airlines (code OS), you enter into a contract of carriage with us.” […] “Checked baggage is baggage that has been entrusted to us and for which a baggage tag has been issued.” (https://www.austrian.com/at/de/befoerderungsbedingungen). Similarly, Turkish Airlines states, “After the checked baggage is handed over at the check-in counter, the carrier takes it into its care and issues a baggage tag to the passenger for each piece of checked baggage.” (https://cdn.turkishairlines.com/m/6615d842552c5195/original/Condition_of_Carriage_DE.pdf). Therefore, we recommend that air travelers always contact their airline.
Should baggage remain at Munich Airport for various operational reasons, as mentioned in the previous email, the service providers contracted by the airline will take the suitcases to separate areas where the baggage will then be sorted and processed for forwarding by airline employees or personnel contracted by the airline. Therefore, we do not have an overview of which system the airlines use to process the baggage, the number of bags, the personnel used or the condition in detail. We have been informed that the situation of luggage still at Munich Airport has rapidly improved and, like you, the vast majority of passengers have already received their bags back.
Regarding your question about Swissport Losch: The reallocation of the license for ground handling services at Munich Airport from 2024 is a regular, legally mandatory process. The current license was issued in 2017 for a period of seven years and is scheduled to expire in 2024.
In cases where the airport operator also provides ground handling services itself or through its own company, the selection decision may not be made by the airport operator itself for competitive reasons, but must be made by the aviation authority. A new licensee has already been selected and will begin operations at Munich Airport on March 1, 2024. For more details, please contact the Government of Upper Bavaria.
Still to your further questions: We do not collect data on where personnel move from the service providers. However, recruiting new staff remains a very big challenge and has top priority.
To be able to work in the security area, future employees must take part in the aviation security training required by law and pass an examination. This training can be completed regularly at the airport’s own continuing education facility. In order to obtain a corresponding access authorization, a background check must also be carried out by the Southern Bavarian Aviation Authority, during which, for example, identification documents and certificates of good conduct must be presented.
In addition, I ask that you immediately remove my name from your article and published email history on your website (reitschuster.de). As you are no doubt aware, press law only permits the naming of a company if it is absolutely necessary for well-founded reporting. However, your article and the e-mail history published in it have no reference to my person in terms of content.
With kind regards
Henner Euting
Corporate Division CP Communication and Policy
Media Relations (CPP)
Letter from Austrian Airways
Dear Mr. Reitschuster,
It was very difficult to get your suitcases out of Munich, but once they were in Vienna the transfer and the delivery worked perfectly.
Dear colleagues in Podgorice, I also want to thank you for your great performance!
Have a nice day and kind regards to Montenegro!
XXX XXXXX
Central Baggage Tracing
Austrian Airlines | Lufthansa Group
Letter from Turkish Airways
Dear Mr. Reitschuster
Glad you reached out to us. We looked it into the matter however it appears that luggage in question was under the purview of ground services, which is owned by the airport. They would be the address of your questions. Let us know if we can help you with any other inquires.
Best regards,
Turkish Airlines Press Relations Dept.
The previous correspondence with the airport press office can be found here.
Under fire – but all the more important is your support!
“Conspiracy ideologue,” “Nazi” or “right-wing agitator”: as a critical journalist today, you have to constantly have dirt thrown at you. The public broadcasters are particularly active in this area. ARD’s chief fact-finder Gensing already sued me in 2019, and the Böhmermann broadcaster ZDF recently slandered me as a “propagator of conspiracy narratives” – without naming a single piece of evidence, and in a post full of lies. Springer journalist Gabor Steingardt slandered me in “Focus,” for which I worked for 16 years, as a “member of an army of tin soldiers” and a “media fighting machine” of the AfD. On the initiative of “Westdeutscher Rundfunk,” I was even put on the wanted list. If one defends oneself legally, one usually has to bear the costs oneself. Your support is all the more important. Also morally. It spurs you on to keep going and not give up. Thank you very much for making my work possible with your contribution – without compulsory fees and tax money.
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title text=”My latest video” link=”” link_text=””]
Insiders unpack: This is how big the suitcase chaos really is at Munich Airport. Incredible interior views – conditions like in the Third World. Or worse?
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