COMMENT: Luggage Needs Attention Too
The average business traveller tries to travel light, even if he is going from, say, London to Sydney. So in a sense the idea of lost and misplaced luggage is not at the top of his priorities although it is always at the back of his mind for the time when he does have a suitcase stored in the hold. However for the average airline customer the wait at the carousel is probably the most worrying part of the whole trip. We have all heard of the horror stories about the wedding dress or clothes for the cruise that have got lost.
”It was tagged priority and still has not come through,” plus possibly an expletive, is often heard at airports. ”All the cases seem to have been unloaded and mine/ours have not appeared!”
Usually it is a case of patience.
And in fact only 0.7% of luggage actually does not get through.
Now SITA, has gone on record to try and make airports do something about sorting out the luggage question. The way forward, according to the not for profit company owned by the airlines themselves, is Radio Frequency Identification Tags (RFID) ” tiny attachable chips capable of sending digital information over secure wireless networks. At the moment only a handful of airports around the world are equipped. Not nearly good enough says SITA (or in effect the airlines). As much as 10-15% of luggage is read inaccurately emphasise the organisation, whose current chairman comes from British Airways. With this new technology the figure could reduce to less than 5%. SITA make the point that growing passenger numbers and improved security procedures are costing the industry up to US$1bn per year in mishandled baggage and delayed flight departures. In a report published last week, to coincide with the opening in Cologne of Passenger Terminal Expo 2005, a trade fair, SITA notes that disgruntled passengers, security concerns and the high cost of inefficient baggage handling are critical issues that all stakeholders ” airlines, airports and governments ” must collectively address. It”s all very well bringing down the price of air travel and vastly improving the on-board service in whatever class one is travelling in only to have the joy of arrival spoilt by frustrations in the terminal. Sorting out the luggage question needs to be a priority.
http://www.sita.aero