Carry-On Restrictions To Blame

While more passengers may be flying commercial airlines than in recent times... their bags may not be making the same trip, following security restrictions placed on carry-on luggage in August.

Airlines reported lost or mishandled baggage complaints climbed nearly 25 percent in August, to a daily average of over 14,000 bags. That increase is directly related to the ban on carry-on luggage implemented following the August 10 arrest of suspects in Britain connected to a planned plot to blow up airliners heading to the US with liquid explosives.

"The increased number of bags being checked resulted in more mishandlings," said Air Transport Association spokesman David Castelveter.

MSNBC reports August was the worst month for baggage-handling since December 2004... when massive problems at US Airways over the holidays contributed to an all-time worst rate of 9.11 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. The August number wasn't quite so high -- 8.08/1,000 -- but that's a big increase over the July rate of 6.5.

Airline spokesmen say they're looking at ways to fix the problem... but most were caught unprepared for the huge increase in checked bags. Predictably, as restrictions on liquids have eased... most carriers are reporting fewer checked bags, and fewer errors.

Oddly, on-time rates improved in August, despite higher passenger rates... increased security... and all the baggage handling problems.

Hmmm... maybe the airlines need to slow down a bit. Nah.

FMI: www.airlines.org