Released: October 01, 2007

Last but not least: lost baggage

Source: Jonathan Mummolo and Del Quentin Wilber, Washington Post (Free Registration)

After the crammed parking lot, the amusement-park-length check-in lines, security procedures that require all but a striptease, flights that are jampacked, if they’re not delayed or canceled - after all that comes baggage claim, where the maddening odyssey of modern air travel is supposed to end but often just gets worse.

More than 1 million pieces of luggage were lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered by U.S. airlines from May to July, according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. June and July ranked among the 20 worst months for mishandled baggage in 20 years.

The shoddy service is the crest of five years of steady deterioration in the ability of major airlines to deliver a checked bag. In 2002, 3.84 reports of mishandled bags were filed per 1,000 passengers. In July, the figure was 7.93.

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