You are right about the very high turnover rate at these contractors that pay garbage wages. When I worked in another city (I work for AA), one of these outfits came over to our breakroom and asked if we wanted to work on our days off at their outfit for minimum wage. There were no takers. It is apparent that either these companies can't find anyone willing to work for so little doing a job in the elements that IS physically difficult, or everyone that applies fails the background checks and drug tests, or that people leave after 1 or 2 days on the job. When they have a high turnover, it actually cost them money because of the expenses involved in paying for background checks, drug tests, and the fact that the airlines and contract companies have to pay the airport authority for each airport identification badge issued. They thought if they could get people from other airlines to work for them on their days off, it would cost less because the people already have had their background checks, drug tests, and airport IDs paid for by the airline.
As for Alaska Airlines itself, they once had very good performance with respect to baggage handling. Now they are among the worst, if not the worst; and the aircraft damage has increased substantially since they fired their long time employees and replaced them with the lowest bidder. You do indeed get what you pay for. Who is to blame for this situation at Alaska Airlines? The unionized former Alaska Airlines ramp people? No, they are no longer on the property. Maybe, just maybe, the blame lies with senior management at Alaska Airlines. The cost of the mishandled bags+ the aircraft damages+the negative image of the latest incident mitigated any cost saving obtained by contracting out the ramp.
