Staff at the Guadalajara International Airport have denied a local news agency report that “porters” are “charging” up to 300 pesos for transporting passengers in wheelchairs to their flights.
A report by Notisistema this week suggested that the porters, who do not receive a base salary, are demanding an “obligatory tip” upward of 100 pesos for the service. An employee at the airport was quoted as saying the porters get upset if passengers only give them “20, 30 or 60 pesos.”
The Guadalajara airport differs from most other international airports in that no carts are permitted in the main concourse area, where only porters are allowed to move passengers’ luggage on their trollies. Their orange waistcoats carry an annotation (also in English) clarifying that there is no charge for the service. In addition, only porters rather than airline staff have the right to take wheelchair passengers to their flights.
The supervisor of the 30 porters working at the airport told Notisistema that he was unaware passengers were being hounded to pay for wheelchair service and said anyone caught demanding money in this way would be fired.