Trolleys unusable or unused Trolley trauma at airport

Calcutta: Desperately seeking a trolley that rolls right at the Calcutta airport? Don’t waste your time near the exit or entry gates.
For, 200-plus trolleys, in various stages of disrepair, lie dumped in front of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport police station. And nearly 200 brand new trolleys are lying locked-up in a room in the international terminal building for the past 12 months.
What’s stopping the damaged trolleys from being repaired and returned to the fleet? Or, what’s stopping the ready-to-roll trolleys from leaving their glass prison?
The answer lies at the door of Citu, say airport officials.
The muscle-flexing trade union wing of the CPM has not only taken the lead in blocking the airport’s path to privatisation and modernisation, it has also managed to scare one trolley contractor away, keep other operators at bay and exploit passengers in need of that basic tool for travel.
Five years ago, a private company was given the contract to operate trolleys. The operator would pay the airport authorities a fee per trolley and the contract wages to the 80-odd trolley retrievers.
These retrievers, most owing allegiance to Citu, “deliberately do not retrieve used trolleys” and even “intentionally damage trolleys”, said airport sources, to widen the gap between demand and supply.
09/11/10 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Nov 2010