A popular band has criticized Qantas after posting a video on social media showing baggage handlers roughly throwing their instruments onto a conveyor belt.
Chimers, a band from Wollongong on the NSW south coast, documented the careless handling of their luggage before boarding their flight on Wednesday.
While traveling to Melbourne for an upcoming concert, the rock band filmed the dreaded moment their instruments were mindlessly handled by workers.
Qantas baggage handlers (pictured) have come under fire after roughly throwing a band's instruments onto a conveyor belt
The group's Instagram page shows one of the baggage handlers throwing several guitar cases onto a trailer parked in front of the conveyor belt.
A male baggage handler in a hi-vis jacket throws what appears to be a cart and backpack onto the trailer.
He then dumps several black guitar cases onto the trailer, with the force of one case threatening to knock a smaller case to the ground.
Later, the same worker is seen lifting a thin, round case from underneath a larger guitar case, causing the top case to fall onto the trailer.
The suitcase almost slides off the trailer before the handler stops it with his hand.
Meanwhile, you see another man, also dressed in a hi-vis jacket, roughly loading the guitars onto the conveyor belt.
The band was shocked by the way the two handlers handled their equipment.
'I'm coming to hot Melbourne!' the band captioned the video on their social media post.
“By the way, we didn't start filming until after they launched Binx's snare case so hard that it bounced off the conveyor belt onto the floor.”
While waiting to board their flight, members of the band Chimers noticed their instruments being thrown onto a trailer and onto the conveyor belt by baggage handlers (photo)
Several users who commented on the band's post urged them to complain to Qantas.
“I hope you send this Quantas feedback (sic),” one user wrote.
“I hope you send this video with your request for a full refund,” said another.
'Wow. Just wow. I'm super excited after seeing that! So damn.”
A user who is a guitarist for another band said he encountered a similar situation when he was traveling with his instruments.
'I once looked out the airplane window. “I saw my guitar fly off the moving trailer and slide across the asphalt,” he said.
Chimers singer and songwriter Padraic Skehan told Ny Breaking Australia that Qantas had not contacted the band about the way their instruments were treated by the handlers.
Lindsay McDougall, the guitarist for Australian hard rock band Frenzal Rhomb and host of the drive program on ABC Radio Illawarra, took to X to express his frustration at the lack of care in unloading the instruments.
'I look forward to reading comments like 'this is your own fault because you don't have a better case/a sturdier guitar/drive or fly yourself to the gig' and 'it's actually good that the accompanists use instruments in this way deal' etc…' he said.
A Qantas spokesperson told Ny Breaking Australia that one of its baggage handlers has been dismissed while an investigation into the incident is conducted.
'We are extremely disappointed with the behavior of this baggage handler. “It is completely unacceptable to handle bags in this way, especially musical instruments,” the spokesperson said.
'We were informed of the incident on Wednesday and discussed it with our ground handling contractor Swissport. The baggage handler has been dismissed from work on Qantas flights while Swissport investigates.
“We are contacting the band members to apologize.”
Lindsay McDougall (pictured left), the guitarist of Australian hard rock band Frenzal Rhomb, expressed his displeasure at the sight of the reckless handling of the instruments in a post on social media
Skehan will perform with fellow artist Binx at Melbourne's Brunswick Ballroom on Friday.
The band formed in 2020 during the COVID lockdown and released the singles 'Tooth, 'Turn on the lights' and 'Generator' this year.
Chimers will support iconic 1970s Perth punk band The Victims, who will play their final live shows 46 years after bursting onto the Australian live music scene.