Flap follows baggage booboos

The next time A.R. Rahman takes a British Airways flight, chances are his suitcases will reach London with him. The star composer became the latest victim of lost luggage on Tuesday, with the airlines misplacing two of his suitcases on the eve of the formal opening of Lord of the Rings.
With complaints pouring in, several airlines are busy putting in place measures to plug the holes and ensure smooth baggage flow. From special training of ground staff and random checks at conveyer belts to pitching for an exclusive terminal, big plans are being drawn up to curb the rising number of lost-baggage cases as international and domestic airlines struggle to cope with the pressure of far more flights and many more passengers.
“Every day, there are on an average 10 complaints from passengers not receiving their baggage, mostly at the international terminal,” said a senior official of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. “The problem is most acute on stopover flights,” he added.
Some airlines blame the ground-handling agencies —most airlines having outsourced the function — while others point a finger at the chaos in clogged terminals.
Shilpa Shetty — whose 10 suitcases were lost in British Airways transit on way to Yorkshire recently — can take heart from the fact that the airline has sought exclusive rights of operation from terminal 5 of Heathrow airport to avoid such baggage booboos.“The terminal is scheduled to be handed over for trial operations by the end of this year. Once operational, the pressure will be eased,” pointed out the British Airways official.
21/06/07 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Jun 2007, Foreign Jun 2007, Safety Jun 2007