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Select Committee on Transport Eighth Report

6 Baggage

Mishandled baggage

119. The Montreal Convention increased airlines' liability for passengers' baggage compared with the previous Warsaw Convention, and the industry has invested in technology to locate missing bags. The AUC told us, however, that compensation for lost luggage under the Montreal Convention rarely covered the full value of the contents, and bags still went missing irretrievably. Between 11 and 12% of complaints to the AUC are about baggage problems.[159]

120. Such statistics on mishandled baggage as are publicly available indicate that millions of passengers are affected by this problem each year. The AUC believes that the answer does not lie solely in concentrating on procedures for dealing with what has already gone wrong. Airlines and airports must together make greater efforts to prevent baggage being mishandled in the first place.[160] Flybe states that it has one of the lowest lost baggage rates in the industry (0.21% of passengers);[161] Silverjet was launched in January 2007 and has since lost one bag which was found and returned to its owner.[162] EasyJet does not publish baggage handling statistics as there is no standard method for measuring and comparing baggage handling statistics; the company believes that there should be a single formula applied across the airline industry.[163]

121. Lost and mishandled baggage is one of the biggest areas of complaint for air passengers. Finding the baggage once it has vanished and returning it to the owner is is of course important but airlines and airports together need to develop much more robust systems to stop it happening in the first place. It is absurd that there is no Europe-wide standard for collecting figures on lost and mishandled baggage. We recommend that the Government raise this issue at the next Transport Council.

Ground handling

122. Ground handling— baggage handling, aircraft loading, cleaning, fuelling and many other services—was liberalised by the 1996 EU Ground Handling Directive.[164] The market for ground handling at UK airports before the Directive came into force in 1997 was already more liberalised than elsewhere in the EU, with airlines generally having a choice of ground handling supplier at major airports and, in some cases, the ability to self-handle. The Government considers that the Directive has brought important benefits to UK airlines and their customers chiefly through the introduction of competition at those airports in mainland Europe where the supply of ground handling services was formerly provided on a monopoly basis. In January 2007, the European Commission published a report on the application of the Directive which noted that prices charged for ground handling services had gone down across the board but that some airports had reported a decline in service levels with others seeing little change.[165]

123. Baggage handlers do not enjoy a particularly positive public image. As the Scottish Passenger Agents' Association put it to us: "It would seem in many cases that the airport employees have little concern about the inconvenience and expense incurred by the passenger as a result of their action and better senior management control is badly needed".[166] That said, baggage handlers do work in an industry that has increasingly tight margins, and their wages are low.[167] Mr Oliver Richardson, Regional Industrial Organiser for Aviation at Unite described the labour-intensive and manual aspects of the work and told us that workforces were being squeezed "as intensively as possible".[168] A baggage handler is 4.5 times more like to suffer an injury at work than an average worker.[169] Unite also pointed to the unfair perception that baggage handlers go on strike at peak holiday season; this is also when the most pressure is on baggage and other ground handlers and that they are usually understaffed during these times.[170]

124. Baggage handling systems at large airports have recently been put under severe strain by security-caused delays, cancellations and diversion of carry-on bags to holds.

Airlines' baggage policies

125. There is confusion about the differing standards for airline's baggage policies; this is perhaps more of an issue for the scheduled carriers which have code-sharing arrangements and differing baggage policies.[171] Although their limits may not be generous, the low cost airlines are generally clear that checked-in baggage space is limited and that costs will be incurred in many instances for having too many bags or for exceeding size and weight restrictions. For example, in December 2005 Flybe was the first airline in the industry to add an additional fee for any baggage placed in the hold of the aircraft. When Flybe introduced the charge it increased the allowance for hand baggage; the airline also offers a discount for the checked-in baggage service when passengers book it in advance online. Flybe claims that it "is not designed as a revenue raiser, but as a means to provide a financial incentive for passengers to take on hand baggage rather than put bags in the hold which increases turn-around times and involves additional costs".[172]

126. In February 2007, BA changed its baggage policy, limiting long-haul travellers in economy class to one piece of baggage weighing no more than 23kg; extra bags would incur a charge. Mr Want from British Airways explained that this was an attempt to simplify the airline's baggage policy; however following criticisms from customers and particularly from groups representing disabled passengers[173] they have delayed the introduction of the policy.[174] Mr Want admitted that standards for carry-on baggage were confusing, but that this is not only due to the airlines competing on the basis of baggage policies—we were told that passengers travelling between the UK and Nigeria, for example, placed a high value on a large baggage allowance and were prepared to pay more for their ticket as a result—but due to national differences too. He argued that there should be a single, international standard baggage allowance.[175] The European Commission has agreed a maximum carry-on baggage size of 56cm x 45cm x 25cm, but its introduction has been delayed until May 2008.[176]

127. The disarray at British Airways over their recently revised baggage policy is symptomatic of the confusion that reigns in this area of the airline industry. It is one thing for airlines to use baggage size and amount as a means of differentiating their services from competitors, it is another to have such confusing policies that passengers end up bearing the brunt in excess charges or having to dump baggage belongings at the airport. We await the implementation of the EU maximum baggage carry-on rules in May 2008. If it proves successful at reducing confusion for passengers we recommend that the Government look at the benefits of proposing an extension to cover all baggage rules.

159 Q38 Back

160 Ev 98 Back

161 Ev 187 Back

162 Q458 Back

163 Ev 153, as there is in the United States Back

164 Directive 96/67/EC Back

165 Ev 141 Back

166 Ev 94 Back

167 Q159 Back

168 Q156; Unite is the name for the new united union of the Transport and General Workers and Amicus Back

169 Q171 Back

170 Q160 Back