BA Priority Baggage at T5
 

I have often wondered what exactly happens to my checked bags after they have received their orange and black "Priority" tags at T5. What doesn't seem to happen is that they get handled as priority items, since they emerge at random on the luggage belt at the destination airport (often with a large gap if I have checked two bags). Can anyone help me with my two theories (1) that all bags are handled identically with no differentiation and the tags are only for cosmetic reasons or (2) that BA's baggage handlers include a high percentage of Socialist Workers Party members, who see it as their mission to remove special privileges from Business Class passengers. I should add that I usually check in with plenty of time and that most of my flights are direct long-haul.

It's not just BA. The same happens with my bags when flying with SkyTeam airlines. I get the impression that the priority tags are little more than cosmetic.

We haven't had many problems, our baggage normally seems to be in the first batch. The mystery for me is how they get separated!

Maybe the fault is at the destination.

I once travelled lowly Y, no special tag. Waiting at the baggage belt, it started up, everyone took two steps forward, and one solitary bag emerged - mine! I exclaimed "I don't believe it, my bag has never come out first before, in all my life", and received a small round of applause from those waiting around me.

i think I've had the full range, flying TATL with BA in J ... first bags and last bags on the carousel, always tagged up to the nines.

"It's crayzeee, Meester Fawlty".

The only consolation is that i haven't lost a bag ... yet.

Priority
 

Rexy - There are lots of things that affect the priority of your baggage. If it is for arrivals at Heathrow, the biggest cause of timing is the way the plane was loaded for departure. All that BA baggage handlers do is unload the plane which should in theory have connecting bag containers unloaded first then First and Business Class arriving at Heathrow, then the economy bags.

What class were you travelling? If it was World Traveller for arrival and baggage collection at Heathrow this isn't the priority.

Remember whatever is loaded first will be unloaded last. So being one of the first to checkin won't help as your bag will be at the bottom of the container. Also, if your flight has multiple pickup stops the containers loaded at the 1st departure station will be unloaded last.

Bags are sorted by machine using the bar codes and just about every airport, they don't read the "priority" or "First" tags.

Bottom line - it depends, but it isn't something personal against you.

Not specifically on BA, but in general my observations on "priority baggage" tags is that on some routes to some destinations most "priority" bags are off first, and on others, it's completely random. Usually, but not always, the destinations with the random sort are outstations for the airline concerned, while the ones with actual priority implemented properly are the main hubs.

However I have clearly seen some hubs where the staff aren't doing (or able to do) it right, and outstations where my priority tagged bag is in the first batch.

Some airlines definitely seem to do this more consistently than others, and I am going to hypothesise that the ones where all staff (including contractors at outstations) are strongly included in the company mission by the management and well-managed to achieve it are the ones where consistency is better. I will note as a corollary that BA is not one of those airlines, despite the individual excellence of many BA staff.

I have heard BA employees (talking to each other) refer to priority tags as 'snob tags.'

That is insightful enough for me.

When I used to be BA Gold I used their ExClub baggage tags. (Yes, bit of a snob). If my journey involved BA invariably the tag would be broken - if my trip didn't involve BA it was always intact. I got fed-up asking for new ones (you could get one repeat on line, after that you had to beg).

Insightful, or simply a coincidence?

When I travel Swiss in J/F my bag is always one of the first on the belt. This is the case not only in Geneva or Zurich, but at all of their stations. At Geneva I've seen them unload the aircraft. The 'Priority' container is 1st off and is taken immediately away, no waiting for the other containers. More expensive, you betcha! But it is very much appreciated.

BA-Questions, comments, bouquets & brickbats (Merged) I
 

I have some flights booked on BA and am told I can check in online 24hrs. before the flight.
As I will need to borrow a computer in order to check in, it would be useful to know precisely what is meant by 24 hrs.

Does it simply mean the previous day ((in the UK) ?

And if it means strictly 24 hrs., is it 24 hrs. from the first flight of a series, or is it 24 hrs. before each flight ?

It is 24 hours prior to the timetabled departure time.

If you are flying multiple sectors on the same itinerary then you check in for all flights 24 hours prior to the first flight.

For example ABZ - LHR - JFK you check in for the LHR - JFK flight 24 hours before the ABZ - LHR flight departs.

If you go into 'Manage my booking' on ba.com it will show you exactly what time check-in opens.

BA usually sends you an e-mail and a text to tell you your 24 hour countdown has begun.

It seems BA luggage handlers pick out Gold tags to damage/remove etc. I need to order some more!

Priority tage often mean last out because early check in leads to this.

the only good thing I can say about BMI is that in their case, priority tag mean that. For BA, a transfer with a 'short T5' tag brings it out early.


Yesterday, a priority tag on a BA flight from FRA brought my bag out early - so it can happen.

BA 057 - rejected takeoff at LHR with "flames"?
 

Anyone know anything about a BA flight last night (13 Feb) from Heathrow to Johannesburg believed to be BA057. Several hours late departing (about 2300), then noisily and somewhat dramatically rejected takeoff with passengers claiming to see "flames" from one of the engines. Aircraft is said to have sat on the runway for a couple of hours (though it may have been a taxiway) before pax disembarked.

Any info about which aircraft, nature of the problem, reason for keeping everyone on board, etc?

Engine surge, no biggie. At that time of night they were probably trying to find enough staff to get all the passengers off.

Thanks, guys.

I was going to comment further but BA.Com simply does not work over my internet connection ( 56k through a dongle ).

Engine surge? No, this sounds to be much more significant than that. A surge is exactly what it means ... an engine that is "hunting" for the correct parameter, usually the result of a faulty fuel control unit, and generally identified rather easily just after start-up.

Any banging, or vibration is always a sign of something more catastrophic, and something that you don't want to go flying with if the take-off can be abandoned prior to V1.

Glad you've cleared that up for us.:sad:

Ummm, :sad: well the handful of surges I've had over the years (including one on a 747) sure as heck involved a he** of a lot of banging,vibration, and even in one case a lot of flames. Having heard the BA57 incident described elsewhere it sure sounds like a surge to me, but hey, what do I know :mad:..........

Nope, not for the sort of surge most of us are thinking about in this context.

Sawbones.

Yellow pen is correct. An engine surge is a reversal of the flow of the air through the engine caused by the compressor section suffering a stall. I have seen several fuel control units hunt, but never a surge.

The result can be flames... See this youtube video of a multiple surge caused by a birdstrike

More info here on engine malfunctions.