Bag losses soar by 30%

[The Guvnor]

From today's Daily Telegraph...
COMPLAINTS about lost or damaged luggage have overtaken delays as the
main grievance of air passengers, according to an official report today.

The statutory Air Transport Users Council says complaints about baggage
have risen 30 per cent in the past year, well ahead of the growth in passenger
numbers. While critical of European airlines in general, it singles out Ryanair,
the largest low-fare carrier, because of the company's alleged attempt to
evade legal responsibility for damage to bags in transit.

The watchdog says the airline is in breach of international aviation law by
asserting that its own terms and conditions exclude it from liability for damage
to or loss of "protruding baggage parts such as wheels, straps, pockets, pull
handles, hanger hooks or other items".

Having failed to persuade the company to change its position, the council has
referred the issue to the Office of Fair Trading, which is currently considering
legal action to compel the airline to withdraw its exclusion clause, the report
says. Ryanair said it hoped to arrive at a "mutually acceptable policy" with the
OFT, but added: "We are fundamentally opposed to paying claims worth
several times more than the price of a ticket for baggage that is badly packed,
scuffed or with protruding items."

A spokesman said the company had a far lower rate of baggage claims than
other UK and European carriers and paid the industry's standard
compensation when luggage was lost or destroyed. The council report also
reveals a "disproportionate" number of baggage complaints about Air France.

Ian Hamer, the council chairman, said a further source of frustration for
passengers was the inadequate level of compensation paid when a bag was
lost. Liability is limited to about £6 per lb of the items involved, irrespective of
their actual value.

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:) Happiness is a warm L1011 :)

[TikkiRo]

I've written about my experiences in a later post, but in response specifically to this article, would like to say, that when it comes to missing baggage, many Pax (like me), would appreciate some sort of recompense for even temporary loss, as I had, should it only be a complimentary meal somewhere or extra drinks at the airport -whatever - just some small recognition that some of us carry things that are more than luxuries or easily replaced items, such as my disabled equipment - something that would take weeks and around £800 to replace. I honestly wouldn't want to contemplate what my situation would be if it disappeared totally at the start of my visit somewhere abroad on an economy no change/cancellation ticket.

[The Guvnor]

Of course, if you're Posh Spice, BA will bend over backwards and give you ten grand if they lose your bags - something not quite right there!!

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:) Happiness is a warm L1011 :)

[The Sleeping Pax]

Guvnor, it's always good to see you down here at the Passengers and SLF basement. You have been busy this last week reading the papers. I've had only 2 really bad experiences with luggage. Neither of themreally lost luggage but the attitude taken by the airlines varied greatly.
The better was KLM after a long hop from Africa via AMS to LHR. I was connecting at LHR to NQY and they had managed to lose my bags. I'd put in a claim with the handlers and dismissed the thought of ever getting the baggage back again. I was asked what my local railway station was and told that they would try to find the bags and have them transported to that station advising me if and when they had found them. I was also told how to claim. A decent hop down to NQY and a 40 mile journey home to find amongst my telephone messages a call from KLM saying they had found the bags and would I call them back. It turned out that my bags had travelled down to NQY with me, KLM having found the bags during my transit at LHR and had cleared them past customs. They even arranged for a taxi from NQY to my home to transport my baggage back to me. Full marks. A pity British Midland didn't have the same sort of service. My wife and I had been on holiday in Amsterdam for a week and had flown back BM to LHR. we were to take the Sleeper back to Penzance. At the luggage reclaim, no baggage arrived. As we were making our claim our bags arrived in the most dreadful state with clothes and other belongings strewn all over the place. The reason given was that the bags had fallen off the trolley and that the wagon had driven over the baggage and damaged the baggage. The clothes were soiled, and also damaged. All we were offered was a suitcase of "the same capacity" as a replacement. Offered was an old suitcase which was obviously smaller than the damaged one. There were travel stickers still on the case, no keys, and no way of obtaining compensation for the damaged and torn clothing! No amount of arguing with the staff of BM or it's handlers would get them to get a new, or larger suitcase. In the end, needing to get to Paddington Station for our train home,we had to empty the damaged suitcase ourselves, and carry the excess baggage through to the departure area and buy another suitcase to take our belongings home. A claim through a small claims court got us nowhere as we didn't have the damaged suitcase as evidence, had accepted a replacement, inadequate as it was, and in fact had no basis for a claim for the soiled and damaged clothing, even though the Airline or it's agents were responsible for the damage. To me it's absolutely no surprise that PAX's try to take on board as much luggage as they possibly can. http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/tongue.gif

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Wake me up when we get there