Am I on a different planet?
Years of commuting to the US from the UK never, ever, not once, not even a little bit, has anyone lifted any hold baggage but me...or Mrs Rivets of course. Not until it has disappeared into the abyss anyway.
On arrival in the US it is now a nightmare of hauling my borderline-heavy cases off, on, off, on–on off .... "turn your laptop on please" ----- "but I'm busy lifting" well you get the picture.
If this girl really has nakkered her back, I'm truly sorry ‘cos there's a real chance that it will never get better. There has to be a better way if we want this industry to be a pleasurable experience to it's clientele ever again.
Baggage is now a significant item on two counts.
Our customers are now far more likely to be living from these cases for long periods as opposed to short business or vacation trips of past decades. They need the bag capacity.
The importance of examining the bags thoroughly has never been greater than since 9/11, so a good part of this could be done hours before the flight. E.g. I would be delighted to see the last of my bags on arrival at the hotel airport. Security could then spread the work load over much longer periods. Obviously there will be folk who will still need the existing system. Fine, that's part of the load sharing. (I am aware of a service offered to the lucky few at this time)
It is even conceivable that there could be centralised collections from most large towns. Bagless travel. Total heaven...I could even use a train...whatever that is.
Far fetched? This is one of the biggest industries in the world: I bet that if such a system made a profit, it would all be in place next week
Bags would be out of travelers possession for longer! Well, this is perhaps the biggest issue, but I can see a time when EVERY bag will have to be OPENED, this will be part of new aviation. Hours of queuing is totally futile...the final testing rushed. Without question, this is going to change. Why not build a system now that is to everyone's advantage?
Arrival? This has to be improved. I protested long and loud when my bags were given to me at a hub, taken back, then flown the next leg without me. How safe is that?
The health of the passengers is without doubt at risk. A lot of old folk hauling bags at the beginning of their holls. What are we selling our customers right now? Stress, back injury, insults and more stress.
If we can build an aircraft that can carry >800 people, then we can do almost anything, certainly develop a way to deliver and secure bags without this miserable hauling and waiting.