Airport lost luggage rates recovering after 10-year high

In a mountain of lost luggage, digital tracking devices can help you track down where your bags have landed. Photo / Getty Images For Travel - Jan 31

It wasn’t just your carousell, worldwide baggage handling rates were at their worst in a decade last year.

Mishandling rates reached a 10-year-high at the end of 2022 as airports and airline workers scrambled to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

2022 saw 26 million pieces of luggage lost, delayed or destroyed.

According to data from the world’s largest IT firm, specialising in airport systems says that airports’ battle with the lost luggage conveyor may have turned a corner.

Last year saw 3.42 billion air passengers, according to SITA, just 25 per cent short of pre-pandemic levels. Demand for air travel came back faster and stronger than airlines predicted, which wasn’t entirely a good thing, says the company’s CEO, David Lavorel.

“Despite this positive news, the swift come-back took the industry by surprise, resulting in increased disruptions and baggage mountains as airports, airlines, and ground handlers navigate the surge in traffic with reduced staff.”

Data seen by the Herald, shows that while passengers increased 50 per cent year on year mishandled luggage bumped up 74 per cent on last year.

SITA, which serves around 90 per cent of international airlines, says that luggage mountains and missing bags were a problem that was felt on every continent.

Almost 8 bags in 1000 were reported mishandled in 2022.

The IT company says that the mishandling rate has now turned a corner. Although they are still waiting for a full year of data.

One of the biggest challenges was doing more with less.

“Last year, approximately 50 million employees resigned in the United States,” says Nicole Hogg, SITA’s Product Management Director.

“Similar trends were observed in the UK, France, and Singapore, where work patterns have changed significantly compared to the pre-Covid era.”

More automation has been the key to scaling summer’s luggage mountains.

The rise in unassisted baggage drop, kiosks and automation has sped up operations and helped keep track of bags.

Recent data reveals that delayed bags accounted for 80 per cent of all mishandled bags in 2022, missing connections with checked luggage. SITA is trialling methods to keep passenger luggage moving, plus let them know when their bags are onboard.

“This solution automatically identifies bags that are not likely to make their planned connecting flight and rebooks them on the next possible flight using the existing bag tag” says Lavorei.

AIr New Zealand recently trialled sharing this info with customers in April, via the “Check luggage status” for checked bags. It’s hoped when rolled out this automated which plane your delayed luggage will be arriving on and, eventually, provide a faster route for bags to clear MPI biosecurity for passengers with air connections to catch.

The only catch in greater automation is the greater reliance on baggage tags.

Remember to write your personal details and contacts somewhere on your bag, is SITA’s advice.

The most common cause for unreturnable luggage - which is never reunited with owners - are missing luggage tags, Hogg told the BBC.”I think a bag that is lost or never reunited with the passenger is because the tag had come off and there was no name or phone number on it. But it’s less than a 1 per cent chance - bags that are mishandled are always more than likely reunited with passengers,” she said.