Disgruntled ex-Changi Airport baggage handler swapped luggage tags causing 286 mix-ups
Upset with his employer, a baggage handler at Changi Airport swapped the tags of hundreds of pieces of luggage of two airlines, causing nearly 300 items to be sent to the wrong destination.
Because of his actions, Singapore Airlines and SilkAir had to compensate 221 affected passengers to the tune of more than S$40,000.
Singaporean Tay Boon Keh, 65, pleaded guilty to 20 counts of mischief on Friday (26 October). Another 266 counts of a similar nature will be taken into consideration for his sentencing.
Tay was employed by Lian Cheng Contracting, a sub-contractor of Changi Airport Group that handles baggage operations at Terminal 2. Lian Cheng would provide manpower to perform X-ray screenings for luggage.
Under Lian Cheng, Tay began work on 7 September 2016. He was deployed to an X-ray machine where he was responsible for aligning checked-in luggage and ensuring they were properly placed in the machine for security screening before being sent to their respective planes.
However, the X-Ray machine Tay was deployed at had frequent breakdowns. Tay would then have to carry luggage to another X-Ray machine about 6m away.
Tay complained to his supervisor about the effort needed to move the luggage. However, no additional staff was sent to assist Tay due to limited manpower. As a result, Tay felt aggrieved and ill-treated by the company.
Out of frustration and anger at Lian Cheng, Tay decided to swap the baggage tags attached to the luggage. These tags were strips of paper which had a unique six-digit serial number and barcode related to its intended destination and particulars of owners. The tags, looped around the handle of the bags, were secured by adhesive at both ends.
Tay would peel off the ends of tags and replace them on other bags at an area out of CCTV view. The ground handling staff would thus unwittingly put the bags onto the wrong flights. Among the mix-ups, luggage that had been intended for New Zealand ended up in the Maldives, while some intended for Turkey ended up in Australia.
Tay committed the acts to “bring about inconvenience” to his employer and bring to Changi Airport Group’s attention the manpower shortage and X-ray machine breakdown issues, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiam Jia Min.
Tay stopped the acts in February last year after realising that his actions had not resulted in additional manpower to his deployed area.
Between 8 November 2016 and 6 February 2017, tags on 286 pieces of luggage were swapped by Tay, causing all the bags to be sent to the wrong locations.
In this period, Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS), the ground-handling agent engaged by Singapore Airlines and SilkAir to manage their operations at Changi Airport, received emails from representatives of the two companies that baggage tags had been tampered with, resulting in mix-ups.
A senior executive from SATS lodged a police report on 7 December 2016.
Due to the incident, Singapore Airlines and SilkAir had to compensate 221 affected passengers to the tune of $42,346.59 as of 1 October this year. Tay no longer works as a baggage handler and is currently unemployed.
His case has been sent back for a trial over an issue related to his sentencing.
For mischief, Tay faces a jail term of up to a year and/or a fine on each count.
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