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Osaka: Kansai Airport proud to have never lost single piece of luggage (2024)

japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

81–90 of 113 posts

Re: Osaka: Kansai Airport proud to have never lost single piece of luggage (2024)

#81
post #16

> In early December, a 35-year-old passenger from Tanzania was impressed to see that all the handles of the suitcases on the conveyor belt in the baggage claim area were facing the passengers. > After the luggage is unloaded and collected in the cargo handling area upon arrival at the airport, ground support personnel manually align the handles of the bags and place them on the conveyor belt. That's a level of attent…

I find that the US is the most likely country to have this attention to detail.

As an American who has lived in Japan and traveled around Asia, Europe, and South America, Japan's attention to detail is almost superhuman. From how bathroom lines are managed, packages are wrapped, garden moss is curated, dishes are plated, everything is almost perfect. It's like the level of service in Michelin restaurants, applied down to the lowliest of jobs.

There's nitpicks people will find with a statement like this but I've never found anything like it.

Re: Osaka: Kansai Airport proud to have never lost single piece of luggage (2024)

#82

When traveling to Japan, I did not have the slightest problem with lost baggage, either at airports, or with the Japanese services that allow you to send your baggage from one hotel to another, to be able to travel more lightly. However, at the airport, when flying back home I had an unexpected experience. At my final destination, when I retrieved my checked baggage in the airport, it no longer had the padlock that i…

This is reminding me of the story of a Japanese airport doing a full security sweep because one of the airport restaurants had misplaced a kitchen knife.

Re: Osaka: Kansai Airport proud to have never lost single piece of luggage (2024)

#83
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You could add 100x the current headcount at all American airports and because the workers simply don't give a shit about doing good work, because they're treating it as a 9 to 5, where they have to go and suffer through a meaningless 8 hours, or worse, they treat it like their own personal access to other people's stuff to loot at will. This places the blame solely on the workers. Their CEO earns a ludicrous multip…

Years ago I had an argument with my HR director at the time. I Was hiring for a position and I said I was willing to pay what was approximately 10-15% above market for the position at the time. He said he could get me a dozen prospects at the market rate or even ten percent below, that I was wasting my budget. I said, "I don't want the people who will work for that, the people I'm looking for know they're worth more.…

This is it. You’re showing respect for your team, fighting for them and paying them more. When they know that, it surely leads to better work?

Re: Osaka: Kansai Airport proud to have never lost single piece of luggage (2024)

#84
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was the joke, everyone (at least in the coastal elite) says they don't shop at Walmart, but they exist everywhere. Same with "cheap Chinese crap" - everyone decries it, but apparently everyone is also buying it.

What I meant is that most people do admit to shopping at Walmart with no embarrassment. Not the same for buying CCC. They still buy it but they know they shouldn't. Shopping at Walmart isn't like that.

Walmart is pretty much the only big discount store available to many people regardless of their income level unless they have personal shoppers picking stuff up for them. I have a nearby Walmart; the nearest Costco is an hour away and it's a different type of product mix anyway. I don't love shopping at Walmart for a number of reasons but it's convenient for many purposes.

Re: Osaka: Kansai Airport proud to have never lost single piece of luggage (2024)

#85
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You could add 100x the current headcount at all American airports and because the workers simply don't give a shit about doing good work, because they're treating it as a 9 to 5, where they have to go and suffer through a meaningless 8 hours, or worse, they treat it like their own personal access to other people's stuff to loot at will. This places the blame solely on the workers. Their CEO earns a ludicrous multip…

Sorry, it’s acceptable to mistreat luggage because the CEO’s comp is higher than yours?

If your employer treated you like crap, would you do the minimum, or more?

Re: Osaka: Kansai Airport proud to have never lost single piece of luggage (2024)

#86
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if this is sarcasm, but Walmart earnings continue to rise. Being embarrassed to shop at Walmart is largely a coastal elite bubble situation. For a more applicable example of shame, buying "cheap Chinese crap" is usually looked down on by all demographics or alignments.

That was the joke, everyone (at least in the coastal elite) says they don't shop at Walmart, but they exist everywhere. Same with "cheap Chinese crap" - everyone decries it, but apparently everyone is also buying it.

> they exist everywhere...

Not in Seattle. There are zero Walmarts in the city.

Re: Osaka: Kansai Airport proud to have never lost single piece of luggage (2024)

#88
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh why even mention time constraints, we all know damn well it's financial. Every corp on the face of the earth is constantly cost-cutting everything to the bone to justify more bonuses and higher executive compensation, while making sure the service or products provided are just barely good enough where people don't stage outright riots. In the sixties, the C-suite earned 21 times what the line worker did. In 2024 i…

We should be spreading our cynicism over both management and customers. There is almost no level of service so terrible that people won't buy cheaper airline tickets. Let alone losing luggage, you could dial up the risk of death and people would still buy the cheaper tickets.

Yes, there will always be someone willing to buy on price alone, but that doesn't mean that there aren't also people who will pay more for better service. To wit: Spirit is financially fucked, mainline carriers are in better condition. The existence

I think the real thing is that - in North America at least - there is a pretty good chance that a mainline carrier will treat you poorly, hit you with unexpected fees, jam you into a tiny seat, etc.

For many people, the difference between an ultra-low cost carrier and a mainline carrier is whether they have to walk through first class on the way to their seats. If you are going to get treated like cattle and upsold on everything anyway, might as well save a few bucks.

Given the choice between Singapore Airlines and United, I'll pay extra for SingAir because I KNOW the service will be better. Given the choice between United and Southwest, I'll just get whichever flight makes the most sense since I don't really expect United to offer better service.

Re: Osaka: Kansai Airport proud to have never lost single piece of luggage (2024)

#89
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm interested to hear why you think that better pay wouldn't help the issue. Being comfortable with your living situation and feeling like you're respected in excess of your boss's federal or state legal obligations plays a big role in having the wherewithal to put serious effort into whatever you're doing day to day, and it helps to mitigate the divide between the richest and the poorest among us / bad jokes or ins…

It's certainly possible to find people who care about doing a job properly in a western society. Paying a bit more has been suggested on another post as a method of trying to achieve that, but I'd argue that that is necessary but not sufficient. You need to not only pay people a bit more, but also screen them very carefully for the attitude of doing the job properly. It is a cultural problem. Just paying a bit more w…

Couldn’t you start busy treating staff better, rather than making it their fault that they aren’t amazing despite their pay and conditions?

Re: Osaka: Kansai Airport proud to have never lost single piece of luggage (2024)

#90
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it also highlights something: better things are possible. Zero lost suitcases doesn't require magic to achieve. It just requires enough workers or enough time to make sure each worker is able to do their job successfully. Unfortunately financial and time constraints mean that very often there aren't enough workers or enough time, and some passengers suffer.

> financial and time constraints I read this as "profit focus"

I call that "hidden inflation", and if I were to guess, the ongoing degradation of services across the board, in every aspect, can easily account for actual inflation figures being half of what it feels they should be.

It's the tiny things. Like, you visit a beauty salon or restaurant today, and compare it to the same or equivalent place 5 years ago. PDF menus instead of paper. Apps for booking instead of support staff. Leaflets where there used to be magazines to browse. No complimentary coffee. Kitchenware that used to be pristine and high-quality, is now the cheapest offering for commercial wholesaler. There's less light, worse decor, no music (or louder music, to boost turnover), worse sound-proofing, etc.

Sure, the prices are the same, or maybe little higher. But the overall quality of service - not just direct service, but whole experience and ambiance - took a nosedive, so you pay a little more, for much less.

You start looking for it, and the slow decay of everything becomes apparent even on the scale of months.

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