In yet another round of travel issues with American Airlines this year (you may recall the issues with their MD-80 fleet), the world’s largest airline had to delay and cancel flights at New York’s JFK Airport due to malfunctioning software that controls the baggage sorting conveyor belt.
About 30 flights — of the 69 scheduled to depart from the airport Wednesday — have been delayed as of mid-afternoon by an hour to 90 minutes. The airline’s employees are sorting bags by hand and delivering them to the gates.
The airline is informing passengers that they can choose to fly without their bags and that it will deliver the delayed luggage "once the issue is resolved."
"We have brought in internal engineers and technicians from the system developer to conduct diagnostics," the Fort Worth-based carrier said in a statement. "We regret the inconvenience and we appreciate our customers’ patience as we work through this issue. Though it is not our normal policy, we will be waiving first and second checked bag fees today."
This is what you’ll see today in American’s terminal at JFK:
American did say that it would waive the fees it charges to check a first and second bag on Wednesday. Perhaps now is time to consider saying goodbye to baggage claims and ship those bags direct to your destination.
I’ve downsized my Tumi carry-on just so I could fit it vertically in a 737 overhead luggage compartment. I will do whatever it takes to avoid checking in my luggage. If you fly as often as I do, you will go that extra mile to minimize the amount of time you spend waiting….for your luggage, the airplane, taxi, in line at the airport. Not having to check-in luggage is a HUGE time saver.
But the best reason NOT to check-in luggage is you never have to worry about the airline misplacing it. Hopefully you’ve never had to experience having your luggage lost and the airline representative telling you, “We’re not sure what where it is.”
I’m not certain, but I would guess the majority of flyers are reunited with their lost luggage (even if it’s after the vacation), but there are people that never find their luggage. Do you ever wonder what happens to the luggage that isn’t taken home?
Well, wonder no more because your long lost luggage could be on sale in a warehouse located in the sleepy town of Scottsboro, Alabama. That’s right - BBC News ran an interesting article on a company, Unclaimed Baggage Center (they didn’t win any awards for originality) that buys luggage from the airlines after 90 days and puts it up for sale.
Some interesting quotes:
“We had a 19th Century full suit of armour, an underwater camera from Nasa, Egyptian artefacts and props from movies,” says Brenda as she proudly stands next to a display case that holds a puppet from the Jim Henson film, Labyrinth.
One woman discovered $1,000 (£500) hidden in the lining of a case she bought for pocket change, while another found out that the glass vase she had bought as a trinket was actually worth a small fortune.
It’s enough to attract a million visitors a year.
If you lose your luggage or forget your book in the backseat of an airline, it’ll probably end up here. I guess you can always take a trip to Scottsboro if you never get your luggage back. Who knows - you may find something better.