[Harp-L] Subject: Re: Harmonicas in carry-on luggage

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

There has been much dialogue re what to do when one is required to play  your 
harmonicas to prove they aren't the makings of a terrorist device.....and  
one suggestion was to then just put them in with the checked baggage.  I've  
been tempted to do so (for the weight factor alone)...since it was really tough  
to carry on a heavy case with an injured neck/shoulder last time I flew,  but 
the thought of lost luggage convinced me of the necessity.  One  can always 
make up for missing clothes....but how do you replace what could be  vintage or 
custom-made harps?  I took this article off Aol just  this morning.
 
Elizabeth:
 

 
Updated: 08:29 AM EST
Lost Luggage a Continuing, and Growing, Problem
By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER,  AP

GENEVA (March 21) - If you've ever been frustrated after an  airline lost 
your luggage , you're in the good company of millions of others. An  estimated 30 
million bags were temporarily lost by airlines in 2005, and 200,000  of those 
bags were never reunited with their owners, according to an industry  report 
released Monday. 
The report by SITA Inc., a  company that provides technology solutions for 
the air transport industry, also  noted that "the problem of mishandled baggage 
is worsening on both sides of the  Atlantic."
The 30 million misdirected bags comprised only 1 percent of  the 3 billion 
bags processed last year by airports, up from 0.7 percent in 2004,  said SITA, 
which is promoting technology it says would reduce the problem. 
Last year, mishandled luggage cost world airlines $2.5  billion, compared 
with $1.6 billion in 2004, SITA said, in a report released  before Tuesday's 
airline and airport passenger services exposition in Paris. The  jump partly 
reflects improvements in data collection, but also the increasing  costs resulting 
from inadequate baggage management. 
Greater airport congestion, tight connection times,  increased transfers 
among airlines and stricter security are all contributing to  more late or missing 
bags, said SITA, a Geneva-based company that is owned by  the airlines, 
airports and other international air transport industry  companies. 
But the biggest problem is the growing number of  passengers, whose 
additional bags cause delays and complicate handling, it  said. 
"Growth is welcome but it has to be better managed if  airlines and airports 
want to improve the passenger experience by eliminating  delays from the 
system," said Francesco Violante, SITA's managing director. 
Mishandling during baggage transfer was the largest single  cause last year 
of a bag failing to arrive with its owner at the intended  destination. Other 
bags were temporarily lost because of airport personnel  failing to properly 
load baggage, ticketing errors, problems with loading or  unloading, and weight 
or size restrictions. Only 3 percent of all misdirection  of baggage occurred 
due to tagging errors. 
On average, bags are returned to their owners a little over  31 hours or 1.3 
days after they are reported missing, SITA said. 
There is no industry standard for permanently lost bags,  and items in some 
countries are later sold at auction. 
In the United States, the Unclaimed Baggage Center in  Scottsboro, Alabama, 
sells more than 1 million items each year. Most of the  merchandise sold is 
clothing, but also includes cameras, electronics, sporting  goods, jewelry and of 
course luggage . 
To help the airline industry cope with more passengers and  more bags, SITA 
is promoting use of a tiny computer-style chip on luggage tags  that it says 
will reduce the number of misdirected bags. The luggage labels,  known as RFID 
for radio frequency identification tags, allow for tracking of  luggage at all 
times over wireless networks. 
The RFID chips also allow for quick removal of baggage from  airplanes when 
the passenger who checked them fails to show up for the flight,  SITA said. But 
the chips are used at only a limited number of airports so  far. 
"The industry needs more sophisticated baggage  reconciliation systems and 
greater use of self-service such as check-in through  kiosks and on the Web," 
Violante said. "This will all help to simplify travel,  reduce delays and 
baggage misconnections."