Originally Posted by
KelvinD
It all sounds so terribly simple, doesn't it? Take the stroller and tell the passenger it will be there for her when she arrives at her destination.
Well how about this:
My wife, my infant sprog and myself were on a BA flight from Frankfurt to Heathrow. I don't remember what the aircraft was, probably a 737. Whatever, I was sat next to the window and I looked out out of my window to see our stroller (push chair to me!) and the baby's car seat being brought out to the aircraft for loading. The person bringing them disappeared beneath the aircraft immediately below where I was sat, presumably for stuffing into a hold. Dead simple.
Then we arrived at Heathrow to discover the push chair and baby car seat had failed to make it out of Frankfurt! A fair old bit of "Oh dear, we are so sorry" etc but no suggestions as to how I was going to hire a car to take the family home when the baby's car seat was hundreds of miles away in Frankfurt! It ended up with a taxi home and no compensation.
And for those airline staff reading this is the reason that pax attempt to take everything on board with them. They have all had experience of the airline losing something or a close friend who has. They have all sat in their window seat watching the baggage 'handlers' tossing bags from the jet way onto the concrete below where their companion drags the bag wheels up along the concrete. The better made strollers can cost from $500-$1000 and are not built to be crushed under bags. At least some airlines now are tagging and recording strollers and similar items that are gate checked so they can be followed in the same way as checked bags.
If the airlines were required to pay a punitive fine to the pax if the airline lost or damaged an item entrusted to its baggage handlers, then less bags and items would be lost and damaged and less would be dragged on board by the pax.