Avoiding Lost Luggage

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Business travelers have baggage and—right now at least—our real suitcases are causing more issues than the emotional stuff we carry around. Near the top of the list of woes that the airlines have caused lately: They are losing our checked bags with alarming frequency.

The lost-bag rate, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, has nearly doubled since 9/11; there are now 7.93 reports of mishandled baggage per 1,000 passengers. But that banal formulation obscures the breadth of the problem. The government’s raw data reveal that more than 466,000 travelers reported lost, stolen, or misdirected baggage in July, the latest month for which numbers are available. In plain English, that means the equivalent of one passenger on every Boeing 737 flight is being temporarily or permanently separated from the luggage he or she entrusts to an airline.

As with so many other facets of business travel, however, most of us react to this lost-baggage crisis in a practical, personal, and logically selfish way, asking, How do I make sure that I don’t lose my bags the next time I fly?

The obvious answer: Don’t check your bags
It isn’t rocket science to suggest that the best way to guarantee an airline won’t lose your luggage is not to give it to the airline in the first place. On most business trips to most places, most of us should be able to make do with the luggage we’re permitted to carry onboard.

Unfortunately, carry-on rules remain maddeningly inconsistent. The government says we “are allowed one carry-on in addition to one personal item such as a laptop computer, purse, small backpack, and briefcase or camera case.” But this so-called “one plus one” rule leaves a lot to the discretion of carriers. They determine the size and weight of the bags you’re permitted to carry on and, on the increasingly ubiquitous small planes known as regional jets, airlines reserve the right to limit you to one carry-on bag.

Generally speaking, though, you’ll be fine if you limit your carry-ons to around 45 linear inches—the total of the length, width, and height of the bag. Also, try to keep the bag’s weight below 40 pounds. To be sure, however, check your airline’s website (look for a “baggage” or “luggage” link). The more you know, the better your odds are of carrying on your luggage without grief. (The carry-on rules for international flights vary greatly by country and carrier.)

Avoid at all costs: Checking bags on trips with connecting flights
There will be times when you must check bags, of course, but never, ever relinquish your luggage when the itinerary includes a connecting flight on one of the airline’s code-sharing commuter partners. Of the 20 carriers ranked by the D.O.T. in the July report, the six with the worst baggage-handling record are commuter airlines. The worst of the worst, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which flies as Delta Connection, has a daunting lost-bag rate of 15.45 per 1,000 passengers. American Eagle, the primarily commuter partner of American Airlines, is slightly better, with 14.69 reports filed per 1,000 passengers.

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