30 Million Bags Lost by Airlines

A new report by aviation technology consultant SITA Inc., which was picked up by just about every major news outlet across the world yesterday, says that nearly 30 million bags were temporarily lost by airlines in 2005, and 200,000 of those bags were never found.

The 30 million bags are 1 percent of the three billion bags processed. The mishandled luggage cost to the airlines was $2.5 billion, compared with $1.6 billion in 2005. SITA blames greater airport congestion, tighter connecting times, increased transfers among airlines and stricter security as contributing factors.

But it said the biggest problem is the rising number of passengers and the inability of facilities to handle them.

The airlines managed to return missing bags on average in 1.3 days from the time they were reported missing.

In the U.S., after several months of a bag being unclaimed, it goes to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Ala., where its contents are sold. The center sells more than one million items a year, usually clothing, but also cameras, sporting goods, jewelry and the luggage itself.

For more information, visit www.sita.com.

Visit the "Unclaimed Baggage Center"