WSJ reporter Katz wins Sidney Award for tarmac worker coverage

Ben Katz of the Wall Street Journal won the September Sidney Award for “More Workers Are Getting Hurt on the Tarmac,” which exposes how ground workers are being injured as the airline industry roars back to life.

A 34-year-old ramp worker and mother of three was sucked into a jet engine; she was instantly killed. OSHA fined her employer a paltry $15,625, the largest fine possible. Workers are falling off machinery, aircraft are colliding, and falling containers are crushing limbs.

Injury rates for the airline industry as a whole have jumped 17% since 2019, but the increase is even more pronounced for ground workers. Southwest Airlines’ ground-handling units saw a 64% jump in injury rates, and air services giant dnata saw a 54% jump.

Katz found that airlines are sending out poorly trained, understaffed ground crews to service the increasing number of flights taking off from the nation’s airports. Industry insiders admit that it’s difficult to recruit more workers because these are grueling low-wage jobs. Safety regulations to protect ground crews and baggage handlers also lag behind the level of oversight that protects crews in the air.

“The airline industry is putting profits ahead of worker safety,” said Sidney judge Lindsay Beyerstein, “This investigation shines a light on an exploited workforce that’s operating in the shadow of gleaming aircraft.”

Katz writes about the global aviation and aerospace industry for the Wall Street Journal. His stories focus on how the industry navigates the ups and downs of major geopolitical, economic and health events, on the experience of flying, and on safety matters.