The job was nice but the managers and supervisors were horrible. - Aircraft Cleaner Swissport Employee Review

1.0
Jan 31, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you love aviation then this job is good. You get to have experiences and be in places so few people get to do. Seeing different aircraft, getting to spend time in various different cockpits albeit that apparently requires separate training. Under the belly of a Dreamliner before dawn standing under a vent that blows out nice warm air. It’s seldom boring for long.

Cons

Firstly the hours are a mess. You get your rota between 1-3 weeks ahead of time at random. You can end up doing mornings, evenings and nights at random with no consistency. They’ll give you a bunch of days, then one night shift, then more days at a very minimum legally enforced breaks between. Nepotism is rampant. A supervisor was selected with under six months experience because she sucked up to the supervisor. Management don’t care. I emailed them because I ended up doing two nights as the only Swissport cleaner on duty in the whole airport and when I went to the meeting the deputy station manager openly admitted that she hadn’t bothered to read my email and flipped the script to make it about my supposed flaws! And the other supervisor, well when I finished my third night shift back when I had a white pass which means that I had to be escorted everywhere airside by someone with the full blue pass and she was the only blue pass holder at the base on my very first meeting with her, she basically kidnapped me and another new starter. She refused to take us back landside even though our shifts had ended, we weren’t doing overtime and we wanted to go home, thus holding us there against our will. When I didn’t accept her assertion that she had the blue pass so we wouldn’t be going anywhere for awhile, went to the outer door and basically ambushed the first blue pass holder from another company and almost begged him to let me leave with him and he agreed, next shift I was given a bollocking and told I wasn’t allowed to be escorted by employees from other companies! The other new starter wasn’t as brave as me and told me he ended up trapped there for half an hour before she let him go. But yeah that’s Swissport for you. Oh and I was fired three weeks before six months was up although I still have no idea what the actual probation length is, because I pissed off management by being late even though I needed new daily medication from the pharmacy and explained this. I know it because I was in the middle of training and had much more coming up, had my lunch break and was fired on the spot on dumb attendance charges.

Explore other reviews about Swissport

5.0
Apr 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Learned a lot as an aircraft fueler, my manager at the time recognized my hard work and offered me a lead position. there was plenty of overtime and opportunities to explore different aspects of aircraft fueling. If I could I would definitely return to the company and get into management.

Cons

some employees I worked with made most of my shifts harder than they had to be. the job itself was easy and enjoyable for the time being even with call offs and no shows.

1.0
Jun 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There is a sense of family culture at the airside level, and that was one of the few genuinely positive parts of the experience.

Cons

Unfortunately, the overall environment was overshadowed by micromanagement and a culture where communication often felt dishonest. There were situations where it seemed like management claimed conversations or warnings had happened when they had not, only to move quickly to write employees up. The lack of consistency and trust made the workplace frustrating and difficult to navigate. There also seemed to be high turnover, along with very little clear direction or path for growth. On top of that, some business practices came across as focused on avoiding providing proper benefits, which left a negative impression.

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