A Little Attention Can Go A Long Way To Prevent Annoying Delays At Baggage Claim
Among all the delays that passengers find annoying – right up there with long security lines – are the waits to pick up checked bags. Especially when passengers now pay a fee for the privilege of checking those bags. Your flight has ended and you just want to get home or to your meeting or whatever your next destination is. But you’re waiting, and sometimes waiting for half hour or more, for your bag to show up.
Well, bad enough is the normal wait time for a checked bag, but to then be waiting because of a preventable baggage jam clogging the chute is truly annoying. Yes, I just experienced that at LAX, coming back from a very long flight from China. The last thing I wanted to do was wait around longer than usual for my bag. Especially when I found out that the cause of the delay was that an over-sized, irregularly-shaped bag had been carelessly tossed on the belt, causing the jam.
A little extra attention by the baggage handlers could have easily prevented this problem. And made the experience of flying these days just a little less unpleasant.
About the Author
John Goglia
John Goglia has 40+ years experience in the aviation industry. He was the first NTSB member to hold an FAA aircraft mechanic's certificate. He can be reached at [email protected].
John Goglia is an independent aviation safety consultant and Adjunct Professor at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology and regular monthly columnist for four aviation trade publications. He was an airline mechanic for more than 30 years. He has co-authored two text books (Safety Management Systems in Aviation, Ashgate Publishing 2009 and Implementation of Safety Management Systems in Aviation, Ashgate Publishing 2011).