Lean times hit airport skycaps

LOS ANGELES, July 5 (UPI) -- Skycaps working at U.S. airports are no longer enjoying the comfortable income that handling airport baggage once brought, they say.

They once earned a solid hourly wage plus lots of tips, but with the nation's economic slowdown, skycaps are feeling the pinch after airlines cut their wages and hours, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

"This used to be a solid job where guys could make a decent living," said Howard Mcgee, 64, who has been a skycap at the Los Angeles airport for eight years. "But with rising ticket prices, more baggage fees and increased security, it is getting harder and harder to make the kind of money we used to make."

The airport division of the Service Employees International Union estimates there are at least 100 skycaps at the Los Angeles airport and more than 500 statewide.

Skycaps can make $40,000 or more a year when times are good, the newspaper reported. But times have changed, and the issue has attracted the attention of officials.

The Los Angeles City Council and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors are exploring measures that would protect the incomes of skycaps and other airport service workers.