The number of bags that went astray almost doubled last summer, according to the aviation industry’s IT provider, Sita. The firm’s latest Baggage IT Insights report highlights an “exponential increase in the mishandled baggage rate by 74.7 per cent to 7.6 bags per thousand passengers in 2022”. Previous rates were 4.35 bags per thousand passengers in 2021, and 5.6 bags in 2019.
The surge came as international travel resumed and infrastructure proved woefully inadequate to meet the demand. As flights were increasingly delayed and cancelled, left and lost luggage piled up at airports around the world.
The highest proportion of mishandled luggage was for delays (80 per cent), followed by damaged/pilfered bags (13 per cent) and lost/stolen bags (7 per cent).
The report identifies transfer mishandling between connecting flights as the main culprit for luggage delays, with rates for international flights – where bags are more likely to be transferred from one flight to another – eight times higher than for domestic flights.
David Lavorel, Sita’s CEO, said: “After a decade where the mishandling rate more than halved between 2007 and 2021, it is disheartening to see this rate climbing again. As an industry, we need to work hard to ensure passengers are once again confident to check in their bags.”
Larger airports, where the volume of transfer bags tends to be higher, experienced the most severe repercussions last summer, which subsequently affected smaller airports that had to handle the repatriation of these bags, according to Sita’s report.
Most baggage systems are automated, using the barcoded tags attached to bags at check-in. Once a piece of hold luggage is checked in, it enters the airport’s conveyor belt system where it is security screened by X-ray machines and then sorted onto the corresponding container for its assigned flight.
Turnaround times for connecting flights can be tight, with transfer baggage often moved between terminals and then delivered by conveyor belts to the stand assigned to the aircraft. While much of the luggage journey is automated, there are some parts that require manual intervention, such as picking up bags to be loaded onto containers to take to the aircraft. Staff shortages can put strain on a fast-paced and complex system.
However, airports and airlines are increasingly investing in customers self-service initiatives that see passengers manage the checking in of their luggage at bag drop kiosks. Sita assesses that 96 per cent of airlines and 72 per cent of airports aim to make “touchless” unassisted bag drop available by 2025.
How to keep your bags on track
Keeping your luggage with you in the cabin is the most obvious way to ensure that it stays with you. However, as airlines seek to extract profit from all aspects of the flight experience, bringing anything bigger than a handbag or small backpack into the cabin can now be less economical than checking it into the hold. For example, a checked-in 10kg bag starts at £12 per flight on Ryanair but taking two cabin bags can be as much as £30. EasyJet’s fees start at £1 more for checked-in baggage. If you are checking in a bag to the aircraft’s hold, follow these steps to ensure it arrives when you do.
– Get peeling: make sure that you remove any tags and stickers from previous journeys. Bags can go astray when old barcodes are picked up by scanners instead of the tag for the intended journey.
– Check in bags in good time – the closer to departure, the less time your bag has to complete its complex journey in the bowels of the airport to the plane.
– Think about all aspects of the journey. A tight layover might look appealing, but it could mean things unravel more quickly if there’s a delay.
– Keep it neat: luggage with loose straps could get caught up on the conveyor belt and end up on the wrong track
– Label it: a robust luggage label with your name, intended destination and contact details can help your bag get to where it needs to be if it’s temporarily diverted
– Consider GPS. Luggage tracking devices can help identify your bag’s whereabouts if it gets waylaid.
– Keep essentials and valuables with you. If your hold luggage goes astray, you’ll have what you need until the big bag is returned.
