There are some records that should never be broken. Take, for example, the dubious aviation record set in December 2004: US airlines “mishandled” 432,000 bags during that month.
Just when you thought air travel couldn’t get any worse, the US Department of Transportation announced that last August a new record was set when 437,000 pieces of luggage were “lost, delayed, damaged or stolen” during this 31-day period.
A big part of the problem was the new regulations involving dangerous liquids that forced many people into checking baggage they normally wouldn’t have checked. This resulted in a simple equation: more bags checked = more bags to lose.
But, come on folks! An average of 14,100 bags a day? That’s a pretty big dose of incompetence if you ask me.