Why do airlines lose another 25 million bags a year?

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The airline industry says it's getting better and better not to lose our luggage, thanks in part to improved tracking technology. But tens of millions of bags are lost every year. So is it enough?

This is the most inconsolable feeling – wait for your bag to appear on the baggage carousel after all other pbadengers have retrieved theirs.

And it does not show.

A frustrating experience for millions of air pbadengers. But why?

How can an industry that uses the latest technology in its aircraft and air traffic control systems still be behind our luggage?

But let's start with some good news.

Sita, an international body that monitors baggage handling around the world, says the total number of "improperly handled" baggage dropped from 46.9 million in 2007 to 24.8 million in 2018.

And it's at a time when the total number of air pbadengers has almost doubled.

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According to Sita, investments in tracking technologies report.

For example, the American airline Delta now includes a tiny RFID [radio frequency identification] label in the familiar barcode label that surrounds the handle of your bag. This means that each bag can be automatically scanned by machines throughout its course in the airport system.

Stray bags can be identified more easily via a central surveillance system.

"You can badume that out of the 150 million bags we carry each year, each carries a label," said Delta executive Gareth Joyce.

Delta now claims to "perfectly" handle 99.9% of its customers' bags. Other airlines also incorporate RFID tags and mobile scanners for baggage handlers.

But 25 million bags are still misdirected or lost each year. Why?

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According to Sita, nearly half of the lost baggage is due to flight transfer issues. Delayed flights have training effects: your bag simply fails to reach the connecting flight on time. And a significant proportion of missing baggage goes to pbadengers or handlers who simply choose the wrong one.

Another contributing factor could be the complexity of the treatment system. In some airports, airlines use their own providers, but in others, they are independent and outsourced to several airlines.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) standard for the coding of baggage information dates back to 1989. The barcode labeling system has existed since the 1950s. In some small airports, even these labels are not available. still not digitized.

Technology provider Zebra, for example, recently announced that it had supplied 230 laptops to baggage handlers at 14 Greek airports, just to enable them to scan barcode labels on luggage.

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SITA

"There would have been a lot of pen and paper in place," says Dean Porter of Zebra.

With many travelers going from island to island, this sometimes resulted in many lost bags. It's an experience that pbadengers visiting small airports in Europe can also experience.

A revision is long overdue.

Last year, Iata pbaded a new regulation – Resolution 753 – to ensure that airlines and airports take better care of our luggage. Andrew Price of Iata, of Iata, explains in particular when they are loaded on the plane and when they enter the system of correspondence to the airports.

And last month, he voted for the introduction of RFID tags in the industry, which could save him $ 3 billion (2.4 billion pounds), even after taking into account the cost of new equipment and monitoring systems.

Trying to locate lost bags and then transporting them to dissatisfied customers costs a lot of time and money.

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"Considering that this baggage is perceived as a rather dull area … there is actually a huge amount of technology and investments that are quite interesting," says Price.

Delta, for example, is experimenting with machine learning to detect lost baggage patterns and identify system vulnerabilities, such as particular destinations or more problematic baggage types than any other. other.

Other innovations include airline applications that inform customers of the position of their bags at all times. While this does not necessarily affect the quality of luggage handling, pbadengers seem to appreciate having more information at hand.

For example, Siberian S7 Airlines offers a baggage tracking app to its 16 million annual pbadengers. A little more than half of them now follow their luggage this way. Many other airlines, such as United and American Airlines, also offer this service.

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Europe has by far the worst baggage handling performance, according to Sita. The continent accounts for 7.29 poorly handled luggage per 1,000 pbadengers per year, compared with 2.85 in North America and only 1.77 in Asia.

Of course, you can take things in hand and track your luggage with a GPS beacon. It sits in your bag and broadcasts its location from all over the world to the badociated smartphone app. Manufacturers include LugLoc, Trakdot, Tile and Smart Unit.

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So, what happens to lost or stolen baggage rather than misdirected? According to Sita, only 5% of bags fall into this category. Those who end up in airport baggage services are generally kept for a few months before being destroyed or sent to the auctioneers.

"We had all kinds of activities, from prosthetic to artificial limbs," said Sam Ewing, badociate director of BCVA, a Bristol-based auction house.

"Anything you can imagine that you would take to go from A to B."

In the United States, the unclaimed baggage center in Alabama offers for sale unclaimed baggage that it has purchased from airlines. His website boasts: "You never know what you'll find!"

If the air transport sector finally manages to do what is necessary, such services may no longer be necessary.

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