Airlines cut rate of mishandled bags

Airlines cut the rate of mishandled bags in 2012, with transfer flights accounting for less than half of incidents for the first time in four years as carriers used new technology to speed transit times and cope with delays.

Some 8.83 bags per thousand people were mishandled, down from 8.99 in 2011, even as passenger levels rose, said airport IT provider SITA yesterday. The number of transfer incidents fell almost 9% to 12.5m, or 48% of the total.

“The industry has made a concerted effort to improve baggage-handling operations in recent years through significant investment and innovation,” SITA chief executive Francesco Violante said in its ninth annual survey of passenger bags that are delayed, damaged, pilfered, lost, or stolen.