Just in time for the holiday crush the U.S. Department of Transportation released new figures revealing how many weary travelers were forced to deal with missing bag syndrome last year. According to the new report, U.S. carriers misplaced an average of 6.73 bags for every 1,000 customers in 2006, up from 6.64 bags per thousand the previous year. That’s more than four million bags that went missing last year in the U.S. alone. And more bad news—while the majority of the bags were reunited with their owners within 48 hours, thousands of pieces of luggage were permanently lost.
Is your bag among the missing?
My grandmother’s is. Despite the fact that she put her name and contact info on both the outside and inside of the suitcase, Continental was never able to locate her missing bag.
So what seems to be the problem?
Travel experts say there are a number of reasons misplaced baggage has become one of the banes of air travel.
Load Factor. Experts say there are simply more people flying these days and older airports are not designed to handle the number of passengers and baggage that are now passing through. Case in point–London Heathrow. Remember last year when it suffered a baggage meltdown in the wake of the new liquid and gels restrictions? Airport officials said Heathrow’s infrastructure could not cope with the number of bags coming into the facility. Luckily, Heathrow is scheduled to open a new $8.4 billion Terminal Five next March and once that happens the entire airport will be using the same baggage system and experts say the chance of misplacing luggage will be greatly reduced.
Transfers. According to travel experts, about two-thirds of mishandled items can be attributed to transfers of baggage at connecting airports—many simply don’t get loaded on the correct flight. To avoid having your bag become a statistic make sure you arrive with plenty of time to check-in properly. And make sure the correct flight number is printed on your baggage tag.
Commuter Airlines. If you are flying a commuter airline chances are greater that you will never see your bags again. Studies show commuter airlines generally have the highest rate of misplaced bags among domestic airlines. According to the DOT, Atlantic Southwest had the worst baggage performance last year (mishandling 17 bags per thousand passengers) followed by American Eagle (14). Of the large carriers, U.S. Airways was the biggest culprit (8) followed by Delta (7).
Travel experts recommend packing at least a day’s worth of clothes in your carry on bag should you and your bag get separated on your way to your holiday destination this season.
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