Why is my bag not here?

I remember a mantra of a former boss who would say that our mission is: "Safe, Quality, On-time performance with luggage". The airline industry is a complex organism that employs roughly 80 people across dozens of departments and divisions for each aircraft operated. It all comes down to Safety, Quality, On-Time & Luggage Performance.

If you go by US Department of Transportation statistics, on average, three pieces of luggage are delayed for every 1,000 passengers and the numbers are reducing each year as further technology, consolidation and strategies have been added to the system.

REASONS WHY BAGS ARE DELAYED

1. Late check-in: Although air carriers are not responsible for luggage checked-in after the respective cut-off, these times have not increased parallel to the level of screening required for passenger luggage. In most hub or large airports, bags not checked at least 60 minutes prior to departure have a higher risk of delay.

2. Contents and Suitable Packaging: Keep in mind that your bag will be screened and what you place in your luggage determines the time and level of screening. Combined with point #1, you will often find that a delayed piece of luggage will have TSA tape and the courtesy card inside explaining the search process. Overweight and/or Oversize baggage also has a greater likelihood of encountering a delay. There is a list of restricted and prohibited items on each carriers website baggage section and the TSA website.

3. Operational Issues: This is a broad term which would include last minute gate changes and connections under 15 minutes. Although bags do travel faster than passengers in most cases, it takes roughly 10 minutes to offload a full aircraft and 5 minutes for the transfer driver to deliver the connection bags. Respective planners do account for this and identify "hot" bags; but, when you have 200 bags on-board, sometimes time runs out. 

4. Human Element: Like every other aspect of our lives, the human element and often communication plays a role. A transfer driver did not get the gate change announcement or has an old transfer list; your baggage was placed into the wrong cart; ticket counter agent placed the wrong tag on your bag; your original aircraft to Phoenix has been reassigned to Austin and the crew did not check the pit to see if bags were loaded until your flight had departed; shift changes. These are not excuses, just incidents were baggage has been delayed.

5. Interline Connections: Baggage that is transferred between airlines may triple the required time to assure you bag makes it from one flight to another. Often, carriers will only have one scheduled pick-up allotted per time frame.

WHAT CAN I DO TO AVOID THIS HAPPENING?

1. Prepare: Print a copy of your complete itinerary and place this inside of your luggage and easy to locate. Include your cell phone number and contact information for where you will be. Be sure you have a sturdy identification tag(s) on the outside of your luggage; and, that you have provided your carrier with accurate contact information in your reservation. Brightly colored baggage is helpful not only for identification; but, also to help avoid of theft. Use ribbon, bright colored straps, etc.

2. Pack: Use luggage that complies with your carriers baggage regulations. In most cases this is a total of 63 linear inches (H+W+L) and under 50 lbs. Information can be found on your carriers respective website / baggage section. Do not pack items which may be on the restricted or prohibited item list; or, may look similar.  

3. Be Smart: Your wedding dress, your medication, car keys, wallet, phone charger, lithium ion batteries, baby formula, presentation for the business meeting should be placed in your carry on baggage.

4. Fly Nonstop: If at all possible, jump on the nonstop flight or avoid connections between air carriers. The least amount of times your luggage is loaded and offloaded reduces the Human and Operational issues.

5. Arrive Early: In addition to being an excellent idea to adapt to delays, cancellations and missed connections, it is a valuable tool to guide your luggage along promptly as discussed above.

6. Pay Attention: Although the vast majority of agents will ask you "is this your luggage?", "is Detroit (or wherever you are going) your final destination?". Pay attention, this eliminates 12% of the reasons your luggage may be delayed. This is a great time to catch any errors. "Wait! In Detroit I connect to Tampa"

WHAT DO I DO IF IT IS NOT THERE?

1. Contact the airline that you arrived on. The convention rules regarding airline baggage provide that the carrier you arrived on is responsible for taking the claim ad locating your luggage.

2. Provide your baggage tags, complete description and a list of unique contents. Inform the agent regarding how you can be reached at all times.

BE PATIENT

I understand your frustration; but, the person who is taking your claim information has absolutely ZERO involvement in the delay of your luggage and 100% involvement in initiating the process to coordinate it's arrival. You do the math.