Outrage over video of airport workers filming themselves dancing as travel chaos hits Australia

Airport workers recorded themselves dancing in front of a camera in clear view of a terminal, with their antics dividing Aussies online as travel chaos continues to cripple the country.  

The video was posted by popular house music DJ Dave Winnel on Thursday, with the producer from Sydney joking it was no surprise his bags took so long to make it into the airport. 

Finishing up on an overseas tour, he said he spotted the employees taking a quick break from the job.

He then recorded them busting a move in front of a phone, with his video going on to rack up one million views on TikTok.

The footage has split opinions, with some critical of the workers while others pointed out they were just cleaners and not to blame for delays crippling the country’s airports. 

The DJ captioned the video: ‘Why’s my bag taking so long’.

‘Airports: We don’t have enough staff…’ also appeared over a video of two cleaners dancing. There were five staff dancing in front of the phone in total.

‘I know these peeps aren’t baggage handlers and I’m glad they’re having fun at work! Just a fun joke! Chill everyone! Much love!’ The DJ later wrote in the comments of the video he posted.

However, the video led to an outpouring of reaction online. 

‘Ah, Gen Z,’ one woman wrote. ‘Now we know why we have shortages on everything,’ said another, with one joking they must work on road construction as well.

‘TikTok has single handedly destroyed work ethic,’ griped another TikTok user.

‘We all enjoy TikTok hence why we are watching it now, but to be filming them when you should be working,’ another wrote.

However, most were onside with the cleaning staff saying if dancing was why their flight was held up they wouldn’t be that upset.

‘I won’t be mad at delays anymore,’ wrote one.

‘If this is why there are delays, I’m quite happy with that,’ said another TikTok user. 

‘Actually it’s the pilots that are understaffed from a major backlog of medicals that need to get done …. So these staff are probably just enjoying life,’ one hypothesised.

‘Every work place needs some fun… that’s how you keep your staff happy,’ said another. 

Many ex-airport workers came to the cavorting cleaners’ defences. 

‘As someone who has worked at Manchester airport, these times are extremely stressful and we’re verbally abused, and underpaid. I hope they had fun.’

‘I used to work at the airport, they are cleaners probably waiting for the passengers to get off the plane so they can clean,’ one guessed, a role which pays around $23 and hour on average.

Others were just glad to see the staff enjoying themselves. 

‘Oh no! Not more people at work having fun!’  

‘Let’s be happy that they enjoy their work otherwise they might quit’.

Mr Winnel confirmed with Daily Mail Australia it was likely they were dancing to one of his latest tracks.

‘They definitely were raving to “1993”,’ he joked.

The notoriously fragile world of airline operations is vulnerable to external disruptions. 

In Australia, flight cancellations have been widespread and largely attributed to a lack of aircrew including pilots and hostesses in ongoing Covid circumstances.

IT glitches in the Qantas system at the start of the month saw 41 flights out of Sydney and Melbourne cancelled in a single day.

Understaffing and technical difficulties over the winter school holiday period also saw huge delays across the airlines, with lines spilling outside of terminals for check-ins and security.

Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar and REX cancelled flights out of Sydney with some frustrated travellers receiving just a few hours notice. 

Virgin Australia axed 10 flights, Qantas cancelled eight, with two flights dropped by Virgin and Rex dumping one.  

In Melbourne, Qantas dropped seven flights, five from Emirates and Virgin Australia, two from American Airlines and one from British Airways. 

It’s understood the flights were cancelled to and from Sydney due to operational reasons, including resourcing challenges and engineering requirements. 

The delays came just hours after the travel plans of thousands of Qantas passengers were disrupted by a nationwide computer glitch. 

Hundreds were left waiting onboard grounded planes on runways across the country after an IT glitch delayed up to a dozen domestic flights. 

Meanwhile, in July, thousands of travellers were forced to wait outside Sydney Airport in the cold as early morning fog triggered massive flight delays and endless queues.

Major airlines have made a series of apologies for recent difficulties and cancellations affronting travellers.