We’ve been getting some great, albeit mostly angry, comments regarding a recent post on Gadling which discusses the worsening trend in lost airline luggage.
Over 100 kindred souls have chimed in with their horror stories of missing, stolen, or otherwise mutilated baggage.
One comment, however, stands out and we thought we’d share it with you.
The author, who has identified himself only as “J” is not one of the complainers, but is rather a Baggage Handler–the target of so many of the above-mentioned people. J’s short list of great suggestions and revealing insights is well worth a few moments of your time. Read it through and you will experience less hassle next time you travel. Or, at the very least, less pissed off when the hassles do occur.
Thanks J!
Gadling,
I am one of those ramp agents for nearly a decade, better known to the public as “baggage handlers” and let me make a few observations:
1) Avoid packing anything either very valuable or required medically.
Mistakes happen from misrouted bags to bags falling from the belt loader at plane side to the to the tarmac below (which can be over a 10 foot fall).
2) Theft does happen (refer to my first point), but much of the time, bags do open and contents fall out. If I know which bag (and keep in mind they are stacked in a pile), then I will place it back into the bag. If I don’t know, then to company lost and found, unless it is some lose change then it is my lucky day.
3) Give us enough time to make your flight. After the TSA screens the bag, and you are already late getting to the airport, we are at times stopping the aircraft on the push back, opening the cargo door, just to get those very late bags on a flight.
4) Most people do not understand how many hands touch a bag before it gets to its final destination. From the ticket counter person, the TSA inspector, to the guy loading the bag room cart, to driver delivering to the gate, to the load planner placing it on the belt loader, to the two guys loading the plane, to the guys downloading the plane, to the transfer runner delivering the bags to the connecting flight (assuming there is a connection required) to the second load planner, to the second set of loaders, to the final destination of down loaders, and finally, to the local runners (assuming no customs inspectors). That’s 14 people handling every bag and some want a “tracking mechanism with every person that handles the bag?” Prepare for longer connection times and longer check in times. Ever try to electronically scan, carry and stack a 50 pound bag at the same time? We aren’t equipped with third hands.
5) Philly does suck. Support laws that allow bad airline employees to be fired without the endless appeals of labor unions, as lazy employees are nearly impossible to eliminate otherwise.