After my partner and I had spent nearly 24 hours travelling from Asia to return to New Zealand our last leg from Sydney to Auckland was delayed by two hours. We finally arrived at Auckland Airport on QF143 18 November 2022 only to be advised by the captain they had no place to park the plane. We then waited for a further 20 minutes and the plane was directed to the western extreme of the airport, requiring bus transport to the baggage and customs area.
Upon entering the area for bag collection, it was the biggest shambles I have ever seen in the one million-plus miles I have done. There were hundreds of abandoned bags, which also poses an extreme safety threat, and thousands of very angry and frustrated passengers. We were directed to collect our bags from belt one, where there was very little information and even less signs of any bags coming off landed planes. After waiting over an hour, people starting asking questions and the anger worsened as no one had the slightest explanation.
Our flight number then disappeared from the electronic screen and still no bags, after two hours. Many people were asking questions from Menzies Baggage Services and anyone who might have a clue as to what the hell was going on. The standard response was the staff don’t give a toss and can’t be bothered working. When I and many others demanded that the CEO or anyone that could fix what is a simple problem be contacted, they advised they had passed on our concerns but didn’t expect any change. After over three hours and still no bags, people who had [electronic] tracers for their bags revealed the bags were still on the plane.
What’s really annoyed me is that no one will accept responsibility; nobody wants to know; you’re almost expected to just accept the issues. There was no one there to apologise; they couldn’t even tell us if we would get the bags even if you waited any longer.
After four hours and numerous complaints, the bags finally appeared, only to go through the massive queues exiting customs that also had no grasp on what is expected of an international airport. It’s ironic that we have 1,400,000 people on a benefit, yet no one wants a job, except for the very people trying to come to New Zealand.
