Lost luggage costing airlines $30m a year

Lost luggage cost international airlines in Australia an estimated $30 million in the year to June.

Missing luggage accounts for 11 per cent of all complaints to airlines. Picture: Getty Images

Lost luggage cost international airlines in Australia an estimated $30 million in the year to June, with 4.1 bags in every 1000 going astray at the four major airports.

Data from the Board of Airline Representatives of Australia found the chances of luggage going missing was highest when transferring between domestic and international flights.

The findings have prompted BARA executive director Barry Abrams to call for better collaboration between airlines and airports to identify weaknesses in the baggage handling system.

“BARA can collect and show information about what is happening but we don’t have the information to break down the statistics to let us know where the problem is,” Mr Abrams said.

“Is it a case of bags being incorrectly injected into the system? Is it a case of bags not getting to the aircraft to be loaded on time? That’s the information we need to know.”

He said it seemed extraordinary airports had more information about what people were spending their money on in the terminal than about baggage handling processes.

The most recent Airline Customer Advocate report showed lost luggage accounted for 11 per cent of all complaints, making it the third biggest bugbear for travellers after flight delays and cancellations, and refund ­requests.

Mr Abrams said BARA began collecting data about mishandled baggage in 2015 after receiving a barrage of complaints from “frustrated” airlines.

“Members were reporting terrible baggage outcomes and we had no data or understanding about what was going on,” he said. “As a result, we sought to develop the data set.”

Australian Airports Association chief executive Caroline Wilkie said the BARA estimate showed Australia outperformed the global average when it came to managing baggage.

The SITA 2018 Baggage Report found that mishandled bags worldwide amounted to 5.57 for every 1000 passengers.

“While baggage handling services are managed by airlines ­directly, airports continue to work collaboratively with airlines and their ground handlers to identify new opportunities for improvements,” Ms Wilkie said.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the main contributors to baggage mishandling had historically been schedule disruptions and misconnecting flights. “We are always looking for new ways to minimise disruptions to passengers and prevent mishandling of baggage,” she said.

Virgin Australia will introduce radio frequency identification capabilities soon, to help track guests’ baggage at every touchpoint of their journey. The airline also planned to launch a 24/7 baggage customer care ­service from mid-December.