‘That’s rough’: Qantas act angers Aussie post-punk band Chimers

A touring Aussie post-punk band has been left shocked and angry at their treatment by Qantas, taking to social media to vent their frustration.

In a video posted to Instagram, rockers Chimers capture Qantas contractors throwing their instruments without care onto the conveyor belt into the plane as the band sits in the gate lounge waiting for their flight to Melbourne.

The short clip shows a rainy day at the airport, with workers in hi-vis vests throwing guitar cases and bags onto a loading tray and then into the plane.

“Coming in hot Melbourne!” the band says in the caption.

“BTW we only started filming after they launched Binx’s snare case so hard it bounced off the conveyor belt onto the ground.”

Others on social media reacted with shock to the clip.

“Friggen hell that’s rough,” one user said.

“Good thing it’s a Greco and not a Gibson. Less likely to break the headstock.”

Another commenter said he was “super fired up” after seeing the lack of care.

“So f**ked,” he said.

The band responded by saying it would send a “strongly worded email” to the airline behemoth.

Qantas contracts Swissport for its ground-handling services at Sydney airport and a Qantas spokesman said the company was “incredibly disappointed” with the baggage handler’s alleged behaviour.

“It’s completely unacceptable to handle any bags in this manner, particularly musical instruments,” the spokesman said.

“We were made aware of the incident on Wednesday and raised it with our ground-handling contractor, Swissport. The baggage handler has been removed from working on Qantas flights while Swissport investigates.”

A Swissport spokeswoman confirmed on Friday afternoon the incident was under investigation.

“Disrespectful behaviour to our customer luggage and personal effects will not be tolerated,” the spokeswoman said.

Chimers is a two-piece punk and garage act, with singer Padraic Skehan on guitar and Binx on drums.

Black Flag singer Henry Rollins has praised the band as “really good”, while the Gimme Gimme Gimme Zine says about them: “Visceral and urgent, this combo packs a post-punk punk.”

The duo are scheduled to play at the Brunswick Ballroom in Melbourne on Friday and Crowbar Sydney on Saturday.

The band has been contacted for comment.