I fly fairly often. I don’t fly so often I am always upgraded to first class, but I find myself in a plane at least a couple times a month. Let’s put it this way, I fly frequently enough that my status waives luggage-checking fees.
Despite my loyalty to my airline and frequent travel, I am consistently amazed at how little trust there is in airlines. Customers are wary to surrender their bags out of fear their bags are going to end up lost or on the other side of the country.
I don’t know the actual statistics, but I am confident you recognize this lack of trust in airlines. It seems the vast majority of US travelers take most of their belongings with them on each flight and forgo checking in. The heroic efforts of flight attendants are remarkable as they try to squeeze, push, and rearrange bags to get that amazingly large piece of luggage safely into the bin. Of course, every flight seems to have the last-minute check-in process for the poor souls so late that their clutch purse will need to be checked.
Integration for Transportation
I don’t have this concern because some of the airlines in the US have invested in technology that can restore trust. When I fly on those airlines, I trust the ground baggage handling system is integrated to the system that coordinates the gate of each plane. I trust the baggage tracking system is integrated with the ticketing system such that my bag is forever linked to me as a customer. [Read more...]
