"Number of baggage complaints rose in 2005"

Friday, February 17, 2006

Number of baggage complaints rose in 2005
Reports of airlines losing or damaging bags increased 23 percent
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON - More bags were lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered by U.S.
airlines last year than in at least eight years, according to the Bureau of
Transportation Statistics.

Reports of mishandled bags on domestic flights rose 23 percent in 2005, from
4.91 per 1,000 passengers in 2004 to 6.04 per 1,000. That's an average of
about 9,700 lost or damaged bags per day.

Last year, airlines were cutting jobs as the number of domestic passengers
surged to the pre-Sept. 11 level of 590 million.

Of the 20 carriers that reported to the Transportation Department, Atlantic
Southeast Airlines had the highest rate of baggage complaints - 17.41 per
1,000 passengers - and Hawaiian Airlines had the lowest, at 2.95 per 1,000.

Every checked bag must now be screened for explosives. According to a recent
federal report, the Transportation Security Administration screens about 75
million bags a month.

The Transportation Department's Web site has annual data on lost bags going
back to 1998.

Meanwhile, Washington Dulles International Airport officials warned Friday
of more flight delays - and increased congestion - unless the federal
government finds a better way to check bags for explosives.

James E. Bennett, president of the Metropolitan Washington Airports
Authority, told a House committee meeting at the airport that the screening
system cannot meet current or projected demand, is operationally inefficient
and consumes an inordinate amount of TSA resources.

Many machines used to check bags for explosives require screeners to load
luggage by hand. At best, workers are able to screen no more than 180 bags
an hour.

"With the technology available today, that simply is not good enough," said
Rep. Tom Davis, chairman of the Government Reform Committee. "The flying
public is growing impatient."

Davis, R-Va., said the bomb-screening machines can handle more luggage - up
to 450 bags per hour - when they're integrated with airports' in-line
baggage-handling systems.

Making such a change is costly, and federal funding for the in-line systems
must also be juggled against other needs - including adding and maintaining
existing security equipment, officials said.

Constructing in-line baggage screening systems at Dulles and Ronald Reagan
Washington National airports would cost an estimated $316 million, Bennett
told lawmakers.


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