Glendale, what do you mean "suitcase" as that isn't what I carry on.
Luggage goes in checked baggage for me.
I have found that with the new computerized tagging and such, one of the few things that has improved over the past decade is that they actually know where you luggage is more often, it doesn't get lost as often, and when it doesn't arrive with you that they can predict when it will. (A few dozen domestic US flights are my data points, and three international, in the last ten years).
This isn't about lost luggage, nor did I ever say that it was.
Thanks for your response anyway. I don't think a suitcase will do what you say it will, since the new carry on restrictions in the US don't allow for something big enough to cause that problem.
Anyway, sorry about the diversion, the more interesting bits surrounding this incident concern the human/machine interface and CRM. They will hopefully be useful teaching tools in that type/model going forward.