The reason your bag was lost in transit
Arriving at a destination sans luggage has got to be the worst way to start (or end) a trip. And while airlines are getting better at making sure bags end up in the right place, mishandled bags still cost the industry roughly $2.84 billion a year.
So, what’s the real reason your bag was lost in transit?
Well, according to the most recent report from air transport communications specialists SITA, 47 per cent of the cases of baggage mishandling came down to luggage being incorrectly transferred from one aircraft to the correct connecting flight.
The SITA report stated passengers travelling to Europe had the highest chance of their baggage being mishandled, “In Europe, data reveals that the mishandling rate in 2016 was higher than the global average, at 8.06 mishandled bags per thousand passengers.
“Baggage performance in Europe has declined in 2015, when the mishandling rate was 7.82 bags per thousand passengers, (and) the longer-term trend is one of robust improvement.
“Europe has achieved a 51 per cent reduction in its mishandling rate since 2007, when it stood at 16.60 bags per thousand passengers.”
Most common reasons for delayed bags in 2016
- Transfer mishandling — 47 per cent
- Failure to load — 16 per cent
- Ticketing error/Bag switch/Security — 15 per cent
- Weather/Space-weight restriction/Customs — 10 per cent
- Loading error — 4 per cent
- Arrival mishandling — 4 per cent
- Tagging error — 4 per cent
Have you ever lost baggage in transit?