Lost Luggage 101

As an airline employee for the last 12 years, I have a bit of knowledge on the 'ins and outs" of airline policies and procedures. I would love to start with lost luggage.

It can be very hard to unload an aircraft and get 200 pieces of luggage to their next flight in a matter of minutes compounded by unexpected delays. This is the number one reason luggage gets "lost." So the luggage then gets set aside for the next available flight to your destination, if it had not made it on your plane. Also with close connections in large airports and the numerous aircraft delays this only compounds the difficulty in getting luggage where it needs to go.

Unfortunately, when a bag is lost, this is a problem I cannot resolve on my own if I were fielding your claim at the counter. But we all do what we can.

Also, another misconception of passengers is that baggage is traced like a UPS package, this is not the case.

Luggage is tagged with your flight numbers and airport codes e.g. ERI (Erie), and as the bags are put on the airport's hubs conveyor system, they are sorted by zones. The next step is an employee then physically picks the bags up in the bag room and puts them on the appropriate luggage cart to its destination. Sometimes bags are accidentally put on wrong luggage carts, sometimes bags get stuck on the conveyor, due to loose luggage straps. Sometimes bags come into the bag room late, due to late arriving aircraft, or you may have checked in late and an employee has already taken the luggage cart to the appropriate aircraft, without your bag. Sometimes bags are mistagged or the tags may have fallen off.

So, I actually have four secrets here, and they are: 1) Arrive at the airport early, meaning at least one or two hours early, even if think your airport is small and it should be no big deal if you arrive at the airport 15 minutes before your plane is due to depart. 2) Watch the employee tag your bag, meaning the one with Your name on it. 3) Put a name tag on the outside of your bag, with appropriate phone numbers, also put a name tag inside the outer most pocket of the luggage, with your name and phone numbers as well, with a copy of your itinerary. 4) Take any loose straps and hooks off and tuck them inside your bag. All humans error and you can never control Mother Nature! Be Patient. Thank you.