10 ms·

Why do airlines still mislay 25M bags a year?

69 points by headalgorithm 7y ago

amelius 7y ago
Given all the dark patterns used by airlines, I wonder why airlines haven't made a business out of it yet: pay $X extra, and be assured that your luggage actually arrives at your destination.
- tinus_hn 7y ago
  They do, it’s called cabin luggage.
  - StreamBright 7y ago
    Not really, there is a size limit on what you can carry on that is smaller than the checked in size.
    - ghaff 7y ago
      Although I'd argue that a lot more people could manage with carry-on if they just brought what they need for a trip rather than everything they think of.
      - 0xcde4c3db 7y ago
        It also helps to: - Ditch the standard rollaboard designs (especially hard-sided), which give the impression of being efficient but usually waste a significant amount of space. A bag (as opposed to suitcase-style luggage with stiff walls) has major advantages in maneuverability and simply taking up less space with its own material. - Learn some of the rolled/bundled packing techniques to minimize wasted space and wrinkling.
        ghaff 7y ago
        >Ditch the standard rollaboard designs Absolutely. They lead to a lot of the overhead space issues because they're relatively bulky and take up a lot of space even if someone has only packed for a single day trip. I get that some people have physical issues but, big a fan as I am on wheels for check-in luggage for the relatively rare occasions I need it, IMO it's mostly unnecessary for carry-on.
      - StreamBright 7y ago
        Absolutely. This is what I do. I travel every second week and for a long time I just have a carry on.
        ghaff 7y ago
        Every now and then I need to check luggage--mostly because I need gear for some longer active vacation. But it's definitely the exception and I run into problems of some sort on a fairly regular basis when I do. (Usually due to flight changes/cancellations because of weather, etc.
    - close04 7y ago
      Looking at some fellow passengers I sometimes have the feeling that you could board the plane with a mid-sized SUV, if only you were able to lift it above your head to put it in the bin. Some try to avoid bags in the hold (because of costs, time, risk) by cramming everything their cabin bag. And overpacking is pretty common.
  - gjm11 7y ago
    That would be true if they didn't sometimes take your cabin bag away from you and put it in the hold. (The last time I flew with United Airlines, they did that. Then they cancelled flights so I had to stay in Chicago overnight, and wouldn't give me back my cabin bag with clean clothes and things in it. Then they lost that bag and I didn't get it back for another three days. That was about a decade ago and I have never flown with United since then, nor will I ever again.)
    - Ded7xSEoPKYNsDd 7y ago
      Airlines made a business of that, too: with 'priority boarding' you get into the plane first, when the overhead compartments still have enough space. And some airlines (Ryanair) only allow so small bags in the cabin with a standard ticket that the overhead compartments don't get full nearly as often.
    - lotsofpulp 7y ago
      American/Delta/Jetblue/Southwest/Alaska/Hawaiian are no different. They're all the same, unless you have status. Alaska/Jetblue might be slightly better, but at the end of the day they have limited cabin space, and have no choice but to check in luggage, and I doubt their propensity to lose luggage is any different either. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-airlines-have-the-most-complaints-and-lost-luggage-2018-02-26 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-airlines-have-the-mo...
- cbg0 7y ago
  Because then they'd have an obvious interest to lose your baggage and such an idea would quickly get squashed by the numerous lawsuits from upset travelers.
- saalweachter 7y ago
  I wonder what the statistics look like for first class vs coach.
  - Tor3 7y ago
    I my experience (back in the nineties when lost baggage was much more common) - no difference. I wouldn't normally fly first class, mind. But I would fly business now and then, and I was upgraded to first a number of times. I never noticed any difference in how often my case was lost. Big red "Priority" sticker never made any difference. Back then the case was lost so often that I can't give you any number, but it was so often that I got quite used to it. But it definitely made no difference on which class I was flying, or with a gold card or not, etc. Only the airport and other conditions made a difference.
mbreese 7y ago
Another way to look at this is: 25M out of 4.3B is a success rate of 99.4%.
- dahfizz 7y ago
  Yeah but that's not a fun headline.
- CaptainZapp 7y ago
  Sucks badly, when you're in the 0.6% group, though. That said I was standing a number of times dumbfunded at the carousel after all bags were distributed. Usually it was due to having been sent with an earlier flight, have fallen down (probably) on the way to the carousel, to then be delivered to my place of stay (arriving earlier than me) or something around those lines. Really "lost" only happened once, which was on a BA flight connecting in Heathrow (of course). It was delivered the next day and sent from the airport by taxi. Still, it sucks if you're part of a statistic and your luggage really gets lost. And it does happen.
- est31 7y ago
  > success rate of 99.4%. So after 100 flights, your chances of never having had an issue with your bags is 0.994^100 = 0.547 aka coin toss.
  - draugadrotten 7y ago
    Math checks out except the problem is not randomly distributed - certain airports have a very much higher rate of lost luggage (LHR, JFK‚ CDG, looking at you!) and some types of luggage will be more prone to disappear. https://www.primelinkinsurance.ca/blog/worst-reviewed-airports-baggage-loss https://www.primelinkinsurance.ca/blog/worst-reviewed-airpor...
    - est31 7y ago
      Yeah, there are definitely correlations. This was more a thought experiment.
    - 7y ago
gandalfian 7y ago
Because there is little downside to failure. People say they will never fly with that airline again but most do, especially if its cheaper... British Airways have fairly conclusively proved that ignoring complaints doesn't really cost them in the end... When the Heathrow baggage system collapsed BA just sold off the backlog as lost property, too hard to try and reunite bags.
- stronglikedan 7y ago
  Because there is little downside to failure. Same reason their staff can be abrupt and downright rude with impunity. If you don't buy a seat, then someone else will.
- m463 7y ago
  I remember reading years ago that one of the airlines somehow added a bonus to baggage handler salaries based on luggage performance and immediately cleared up most of the problems.
matt4077 7y ago
As the article points out, the fraction of lost baggage has been cut by 75% in the last decade. I seem to remember even more dramatic numbers if you look further back in time. But, of course, the comments here are (as of now) only cynical takes on how losing luggage is either complete incompetence, or one of various conspiracies of airlines or airports to earn money by... Well I don’t actually understand the ‘how’ part of the schemes. Apparently it’s by paying the customer the contractual (or, in the EU, required by law) hundreds of dollars per loss and then turning around and auctioning off mystery suitcases at $40 a pop?
ginko 7y ago
What I find most annoying with lost bags (as mentioned usually due to short transfers) is the byzantine system you have to go through to get them back. In most likelihood by the time you arrive your airline should already know that the bag didn't make it and is still in a transfer airport. They could just send you a message in their app and have you fill out a form so they know where to forward it. Instead you have to waste tons of time waiting at the belt, then even more time waiting in line at the completely overworked lost+found counter(once you actually found it) just so you can fill out the details you could have just as well typed in in an app.
- davrosthedalek 7y ago
  The only time my luggage had a problem like that, LH called me over the PA pretty quickly. Didn't have to wait at the belt, and the process was overall pretty painless. Luckily it happened on the return trip, so it was easy to deal with.
- Tor3 7y ago
  Once when I landed in Narita Tokyo an attendant was waiting for me outside the airplane, holding a sign with my name on. She told me that my suitcase had gone to the wrong airport, and after that she led me to a desk where I had to sign a form (they have to let customs go through the suitcase when it doesn't arrive with you), and to get my address so they could forward it when it arrived. But then again this was Asia, which, as the BBC article mentions, also has a lower rate of lost baggage. In any case, the situation is overall vastly better than when I was doing business travels all the time in the nineties. My suitcase would be missing at least 25% of the time. On some flights it was a certainty that it would be missing. Now it's pretty rare. Even on very short transfers due to delays. I've on a few occasions literally walked out one gate an run directly to another to catch the flight, and surprise, the case made it every time. Brought directly from one plane to another no doubt.
  - carlmr 7y ago
    Amsterdam Schiphol not once managed to transfer my bag if my transfer time was less than 1.5h. I asked them and they said it was normal.
prmph 7y ago
I have never understood is why there is no security around the pickup of bags on arrival. What prevents someone from simply picking up my bag from the carousel, knowing that it's not theirs, and walking off? Or are airplane passengers invariably saints, so that this never happens?
- dmitriid 7y ago
  It happens on such a small scale that security isn’t needed
  - Tor3 7y ago
    There is, however, a non-zero risk for losing your handluggage or purse while waiting for your checked-in luggage. I know one fairly large (for European standards) airport where, for some reason, pickpockets (or what to call them) are able to get into the (closed) baggage area, and you have to keep an eye on your belongings at all times.
  - gowld 7y ago
    Why doesn't the TSA apply that theory to flight security?
    - wahern 7y ago
      Because like nuclear power people (writ large) have an especially irrational fear of flying; they demand crippling levels of security theatre. Terrorists understand this, too.
- nkrisc 7y ago
  Perhaps there very little to gain. Airport security can ask you at any time to see the corresponding stub for your baggage tag. So you want to steal a bag, what are you risking it for? Some clothes?
- mhb 7y ago
  It seems like the answer to this would be the same as the answer to the other question. The laissez faire baggage claim is refreshingly delightful in contrast to the hell that every other aspect of air travel has become though.
Theodores 7y ago
But what happens to the bags after they have been picked up from the carousel, i.e. not lost? Over the same time period there has been an increase in wheeled luggage. This has been a game changer. In the olden days people needed a taxi even if the hotel was a short walk away from the airport. This was because without the wheels it was quite a struggle to move one's luggage. With the wheeled luggage people can get public transport that bit easier. So they are willing and able to walk a bit. The wheeled luggage has not been welcomed by all. Demand for taxi airport runs diminished considerably with this innovation. But do people get parted from their luggage on the way on and off trains/tubes/buses more than in the olden days when a taxi driver was there to take responsibility for what was in his/her vehicle?
sh-run 7y ago
I've flown carry-on only most of my life and I've done up to two week trips (business and personal) with only carry on luggage. I'm also not the type of person that just hangs out in my hotel room after work. Of course if you need to wear anything nicer than a polo shirt to work this may not be possible. 1. Wear your bulkiest shoes to the airport 2. Find pants that can be used for work and play (I like Kuhl Slax) 3. Plan on doing laundry (or paying someone to do laundry) on trips over a week. Make sure you bring clothes to wear on laundry day! 4. Don't bring crap you won't use, but it is ok to bring items that you don't necessarily need if as long as they add value to your trip. As an example, I always travel with my Olympus EM5.2 and two lenses.

69 points by headalgorithm 7y ago

Given all the dark patterns used by airlines, I wonder why airlines haven't made a business out of it yet: pay $X extra, and be assured that your luggage actually arrives at your destination.

tinus_hn 7y ago
They do, it’s called cabin luggage.
- StreamBright 7y ago
  Not really, there is a size limit on what you can carry on that is smaller than the checked in size.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    Although I'd argue that a lot more people could manage with carry-on if they just brought what they need for a trip rather than everything they think of.
    - 0xcde4c3db 7y ago
      It also helps to: - Ditch the standard rollaboard designs (especially hard-sided), which give the impression of being efficient but usually waste a significant amount of space. A bag (as opposed to suitcase-style luggage with stiff walls) has major advantages in maneuverability and simply taking up less space with its own material. - Learn some of the rolled/bundled packing techniques to minimize wasted space and wrinkling.
      - ghaff 7y ago
        >Ditch the standard rollaboard designs Absolutely. They lead to a lot of the overhead space issues because they're relatively bulky and take up a lot of space even if someone has only packed for a single day trip. I get that some people have physical issues but, big a fan as I am on wheels for check-in luggage for the relatively rare occasions I need it, IMO it's mostly unnecessary for carry-on.
    - StreamBright 7y ago
      Absolutely. This is what I do. I travel every second week and for a long time I just have a carry on.
      - ghaff 7y ago
        Every now and then I need to check luggage--mostly because I need gear for some longer active vacation. But it's definitely the exception and I run into problems of some sort on a fairly regular basis when I do. (Usually due to flight changes/cancellations because of weather, etc.
  - close04 7y ago
    Looking at some fellow passengers I sometimes have the feeling that you could board the plane with a mid-sized SUV, if only you were able to lift it above your head to put it in the bin. Some try to avoid bags in the hold (because of costs, time, risk) by cramming everything their cabin bag. And overpacking is pretty common.
- gjm11 7y ago
  That would be true if they didn't sometimes take your cabin bag away from you and put it in the hold. (The last time I flew with United Airlines, they did that. Then they cancelled flights so I had to stay in Chicago overnight, and wouldn't give me back my cabin bag with clean clothes and things in it. Then they lost that bag and I didn't get it back for another three days. That was about a decade ago and I have never flown with United since then, nor will I ever again.)
  - Ded7xSEoPKYNsDd 7y ago
    Airlines made a business of that, too: with 'priority boarding' you get into the plane first, when the overhead compartments still have enough space. And some airlines (Ryanair) only allow so small bags in the cabin with a standard ticket that the overhead compartments don't get full nearly as often.
  - lotsofpulp 7y ago
    American/Delta/Jetblue/Southwest/Alaska/Hawaiian are no different. They're all the same, unless you have status. Alaska/Jetblue might be slightly better, but at the end of the day they have limited cabin space, and have no choice but to check in luggage, and I doubt their propensity to lose luggage is any different either. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-airlines-have-the-most-complaints-and-lost-luggage-2018-02-26 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-airlines-have-the-mo...
cbg0 7y ago
Because then they'd have an obvious interest to lose your baggage and such an idea would quickly get squashed by the numerous lawsuits from upset travelers.
saalweachter 7y ago
I wonder what the statistics look like for first class vs coach.
- Tor3 7y ago
  I my experience (back in the nineties when lost baggage was much more common) - no difference. I wouldn't normally fly first class, mind. But I would fly business now and then, and I was upgraded to first a number of times. I never noticed any difference in how often my case was lost. Big red "Priority" sticker never made any difference. Back then the case was lost so often that I can't give you any number, but it was so often that I got quite used to it. But it definitely made no difference on which class I was flying, or with a gold card or not, etc. Only the airport and other conditions made a difference.

mbreese 7y ago

Another way to look at this is: 25M out of 4.3B is a success rate of 99.4%.

dahfizz 7y ago
Yeah but that's not a fun headline.
CaptainZapp 7y ago
Sucks badly, when you're in the 0.6% group, though. That said I was standing a number of times dumbfunded at the carousel after all bags were distributed. Usually it was due to having been sent with an earlier flight, have fallen down (probably) on the way to the carousel, to then be delivered to my place of stay (arriving earlier than me) or something around those lines. Really "lost" only happened once, which was on a BA flight connecting in Heathrow (of course). It was delivered the next day and sent from the airport by taxi. Still, it sucks if you're part of a statistic and your luggage really gets lost. And it does happen.
est31 7y ago
> success rate of 99.4%. So after 100 flights, your chances of never having had an issue with your bags is 0.994^100 = 0.547 aka coin toss.
- draugadrotten 7y ago
  Math checks out except the problem is not randomly distributed - certain airports have a very much higher rate of lost luggage (LHR, JFK‚ CDG, looking at you!) and some types of luggage will be more prone to disappear. https://www.primelinkinsurance.ca/blog/worst-reviewed-airports-baggage-loss https://www.primelinkinsurance.ca/blog/worst-reviewed-airpor...
  - est31 7y ago
    Yeah, there are definitely correlations. This was more a thought experiment.
  - 7y ago

gandalfian 7y ago

Because there is little downside to failure. People say they will never fly with that airline again but most do, especially if its cheaper... British Airways have fairly conclusively proved that ignoring complaints doesn't really cost them in the end... When the Heathrow baggage system collapsed BA just sold off the backlog as lost property, too hard to try and reunite bags.

stronglikedan 7y ago
Because there is little downside to failure. Same reason their staff can be abrupt and downright rude with impunity. If you don't buy a seat, then someone else will.
m463 7y ago
I remember reading years ago that one of the airlines somehow added a bonus to baggage handler salaries based on luggage performance and immediately cleared up most of the problems.

matt4077 7y ago

As the article points out, the fraction of lost baggage has been cut by 75% in the last decade. I seem to remember even more dramatic numbers if you look further back in time. But, of course, the comments here are (as of now) only cynical takes on how losing luggage is either complete incompetence, or one of various conspiracies of airlines or airports to earn money by... Well I don’t actually understand the ‘how’ part of the schemes. Apparently it’s by paying the customer the contractual (or, in the EU, required by law) hundreds of dollars per loss and then turning around and auctioning off mystery suitcases at $40 a pop?

ginko 7y ago

What I find most annoying with lost bags (as mentioned usually due to short transfers) is the byzantine system you have to go through to get them back. In most likelihood by the time you arrive your airline should already know that the bag didn't make it and is still in a transfer airport. They could just send you a message in their app and have you fill out a form so they know where to forward it. Instead you have to waste tons of time waiting at the belt, then even more time waiting in line at the completely overworked lost+found counter(once you actually found it) just so you can fill out the details you could have just as well typed in in an app.

davrosthedalek 7y ago
The only time my luggage had a problem like that, LH called me over the PA pretty quickly. Didn't have to wait at the belt, and the process was overall pretty painless. Luckily it happened on the return trip, so it was easy to deal with.
Tor3 7y ago
Once when I landed in Narita Tokyo an attendant was waiting for me outside the airplane, holding a sign with my name on. She told me that my suitcase had gone to the wrong airport, and after that she led me to a desk where I had to sign a form (they have to let customs go through the suitcase when it doesn't arrive with you), and to get my address so they could forward it when it arrived. But then again this was Asia, which, as the BBC article mentions, also has a lower rate of lost baggage. In any case, the situation is overall vastly better than when I was doing business travels all the time in the nineties. My suitcase would be missing at least 25% of the time. On some flights it was a certainty that it would be missing. Now it's pretty rare. Even on very short transfers due to delays. I've on a few occasions literally walked out one gate an run directly to another to catch the flight, and surprise, the case made it every time. Brought directly from one plane to another no doubt.
- carlmr 7y ago
  Amsterdam Schiphol not once managed to transfer my bag if my transfer time was less than 1.5h. I asked them and they said it was normal.

prmph 7y ago

I have never understood is why there is no security around the pickup of bags on arrival. What prevents someone from simply picking up my bag from the carousel, knowing that it's not theirs, and walking off? Or are airplane passengers invariably saints, so that this never happens?

dmitriid 7y ago
It happens on such a small scale that security isn’t needed
- Tor3 7y ago
  There is, however, a non-zero risk for losing your handluggage or purse while waiting for your checked-in luggage. I know one fairly large (for European standards) airport where, for some reason, pickpockets (or what to call them) are able to get into the (closed) baggage area, and you have to keep an eye on your belongings at all times.
- gowld 7y ago
  Why doesn't the TSA apply that theory to flight security?
  - wahern 7y ago
    Because like nuclear power people (writ large) have an especially irrational fear of flying; they demand crippling levels of security theatre. Terrorists understand this, too.
nkrisc 7y ago
Perhaps there very little to gain. Airport security can ask you at any time to see the corresponding stub for your baggage tag. So you want to steal a bag, what are you risking it for? Some clothes?
mhb 7y ago
It seems like the answer to this would be the same as the answer to the other question. The laissez faire baggage claim is refreshingly delightful in contrast to the hell that every other aspect of air travel has become though.

Theodores 7y ago

But what happens to the bags after they have been picked up from the carousel, i.e. not lost? Over the same time period there has been an increase in wheeled luggage. This has been a game changer. In the olden days people needed a taxi even if the hotel was a short walk away from the airport. This was because without the wheels it was quite a struggle to move one's luggage. With the wheeled luggage people can get public transport that bit easier. So they are willing and able to walk a bit. The wheeled luggage has not been welcomed by all. Demand for taxi airport runs diminished considerably with this innovation. But do people get parted from their luggage on the way on and off trains/tubes/buses more than in the olden days when a taxi driver was there to take responsibility for what was in his/her vehicle?

sh-run 7y ago

I've flown carry-on only most of my life and I've done up to two week trips (business and personal) with only carry on luggage. I'm also not the type of person that just hangs out in my hotel room after work. Of course if you need to wear anything nicer than a polo shirt to work this may not be possible. 1. Wear your bulkiest shoes to the airport 2. Find pants that can be used for work and play (I like Kuhl Slax) 3. Plan on doing laundry (or paying someone to do laundry) on trips over a week. Make sure you bring clothes to wear on laundry day! 4. Don't bring crap you won't use, but it is ok to bring items that you don't necessarily need if as long as they add value to your trip. As an example, I always travel with my Olympus EM5.2 and two lenses.