Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Columns

Cases of the AWOL bags

By STEVE HUETTEL, Roadlife
Published November 28, 2007

With the number of lost bags rising steadily since 2002, this year looks to be the worst in at least nine years, with around 5-million bags being delivered late, stolen or otherwise separated permanently from travelers by New Year's Eve.
	[Ken Helle | Times]

Welcome back from that holiday plane trip. Got luggage?

The odds of an airline losing your bag are pretty low. About one in every 138 checked bags didn't make it to the destination with their owners for the first nine months of this year.

Sounds good, except that the number of lost bags has risen steadily since 2002. This year looks like a lock to be the worst in at least nine years, with something approaching 5-million bags delivered late, stolen or otherwise separated permanently from travelers by New Year's Eve.

How did it get so bad? Airlines are flying more people than ever with fewer workers at airports to handle the load. Carriers on average fill eight out of 10 seats on each flight - the highest percentage since World War II - and are trying to cut the time planes sit at the gate.

Do the math. More luggage and fewer bag handlers with less time to unload and load planes.

But enough numbers. It's hard to fathom the havoc a lost bag can inflict on a vacation or business trip until you've been there.

A colleague returned from her friend's wedding in England this summer still simmering over a piece of checked luggage AWOL somewhere between Newcastle and Tampa. Arriving in bag claim at London's hectic Heathrow Airport, she found piles of luggage stacked shoulder-high, the result of rainstorms that had shut down flights for hours. Hers wasn't among them.

She borrowed a dress for the wedding, but had to replace most everything else in the bag, including running shoes, a raincoat, shirts, skirts, a jacket and cosmetics. The bill: more than $800.

Her luggage traveled at least as far as she did. Someone brought it to Newcastle after she headed home. More than two weeks later, a delivery service called and dropped off the bag, with tags documenting stops in Atlanta and Miami.

The luggage lining and top layers of clothes were covered in mold. She accepted the airline's $600 settlement. The British shirts, bought in haste with undervalued dollars, don't fit.

Carriers say they're working to reduce the number of mishandled bags, while pointing out that most don't get to the plane on time and go out on the next flight.

Scott Mueller, a former airline baggage service manager in Orlando, doubts they'll make a dent in the problem. Most airline executives are focused on cutting costs amid record-high fuel prices, he says, and don't consider lost luggage a priority.

"It's not going to get any better," says Mueller, author of The Empty Carousel, a traveler's guide to protecting their checked and carry-on luggage.

There are plenty of ways checked luggage and owners can part company, starting at the ticket counter. Check the claim check to make sure the bag is tagged for your final destination.

After that, luggage scoots down a belt for screening by the Transportation Security Agency. A backup or equipment problem there can make your bag late for a flight. A conveyor then zips luggage to airline bag rooms, where bar-code scanners steer them to piers for specific flights.

At Orlando International Airport, the overloaded conveyor system regularly broke down or kicked luggage to the wrong pier, says Mueller, who worked there until this summer. Workers are supposed to check each bag's tag while loading them on carts headed out to the planes.

If everything goes right, there's a final hurdle: the luggage carousel at your destination. Thieves target bags that might contain expensive gifts during the holidays, says Mueller. But more often, the threat is someone carrying off your bag by mistake. Go directly to bag claim, he advises.

Even better, travel with only a carry-on and mail ahead anything critical that doesn't fit in it. Advises Mueller: "Don't pack things you can't afford to lose for 24 hours without a backup."

Avoiding lost luggage
Do's
- Include all your information address, phonenumbers and e-mail on the tag.
- Put your identification in a holder flush on the bag (and separately inside).
Don'ts
- Use professional titles that could attract a thief's attention.
- Hang your identification tags from a strap that could break during handling.

Source: The Empty Carousel

Steve Huettel can be reached at huetttel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

[Last modified November 27, 2007, 22:48:07]