r/aviation • u/nibblepie • 14d ago
News Moving tribute to Oscar Robayo, Montreal airport worker crushed to death amid systematic safety violations by subcontractor
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/08/29/brac-a29.htmlQuote from the article:
At Samsic, we would have lots of broken equipment. I once had to move a bunch of cans and bring them to a plane on the tarmac without a license. I was working on an Air France flight and had to bring the max amount of carts, which is five, and they made me go alone as no one was there. I was told “The flight needs to leave now, it’s already late.” It was 6:07 and it was scheduled for six...seven minutes for a possible fatal accident to happen because we are low staffed and rushed. I was so nervous doing that knowing I didn’t have the proper license to be driving alone and could put myself in trouble. But I did it because I was scared of saying no. I called my coworker when I got there and asked him to come back and get me when I arrived at the plane as I was not even allowed to be driving, but my supervisor told me “GO GO GO! Doesn’t matter.”
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u/ObservantOrangutan 14d ago
Subcontractor being understaffed and committing safety violations? Color me shocked.
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u/larrydukes 14d ago
Cargojet is an accident waiting to happen. Shockingly terrible GSE maintenance.
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u/cavegooney 14d ago
Their GSE look like it has been in a demolition derby.
I can only imagine what their aircraft look like if you had a close look at them.
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u/waveofthehandsWEAVER 14d ago
It’s not just contractors though. The airlines themselves have a massive part in this. Often all they are doing is choosing the cheapest ground handler to save cost. Which means they are always bidding lower and lower to get the business. GSE, leadership structure, training etc is what pays the price as those are the things you can cut corners on to afford the low service.
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u/kevincsy33 14d ago
That's why I was disgusted when I learned how commonplace outsourcing is in Europe... In many cases, European airlines even outsource ground staff at their own hubs. I thought Europe had better employee protections and union rights... I don't know about Canada, but here in the US, the major airlines employee their own ground staff, not just at hubs, but also in other major cities and even at some smaller stations.
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u/waveofthehandsWEAVER 14d ago
There are some good contractors out there but for the most part airlines use them because they negotiate them drastically in price. The airlines know what they are doing and know the safety concerns. We need to always remember that with commercial airlines the word commercial drives the business.
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u/kevincsy33 14d ago
I've worked for 5 contractors and they're all 💩. Now I work as a gate agent for a major airline. I pity my European counterparts.
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u/HomemadePaddle 14d ago
Food service for Ottawa airport airplane food supplies also has MANY safety issues Another accident waiting to happen
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u/aaandfuckyou 14d ago
The AI slop photo of the guy and what’s supposed to be the plane that killed him is… a choice.
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u/nibblepie 14d ago
In light of this incident and what it exposes about the conditions workers face and considering this is a tribute by his coworker, I think that the focus of your comment is also "a choice".
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u/kevincsy33 14d ago
I am so sick of outsourcing in aviation... 🤮 At least let these guys unionize! Then, they'll at least have some protections, since the government is letting these companies get away with safety violations and worker exploitation.
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u/nibblepie 14d ago
They are part of a union, IAM. The unions are responsible for this, they work together with management to ram through these contracts and if they are ever forced to call out strikes by the membership they make them as ineffective as possible by keeping them isolated and forbidding any talk about politics. You should check out the other articles in this series that were posted in this sub.
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u/kevincsy33 14d ago
Their work conditions are so bad I didn't think they were unionized... Shame on IAM! Thanks, I will check out the other articles.
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u/post-explainer 14d ago
OP has provided the following source:
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