Looking For Your Bags On USAirways

Maybe that's your bag that didn't make it to Ka'anapali.

Ever wonder how baggage gets lost in transit? Especially in this world of "high security", TSA screenings and everything designed to "protect" us from harm, you'd think they would be able to track your baggage with a high degree of accuracy - not to mention that they now charge you for the "privilege" of checking your baggage.

In a discussion with a Charlotte Douglas Airport representative downstairs in the US Immigration "sterile zone", I was informed that despite the lack of Global Entry machines, Charlotte is the 7th busiest airport in the nation.

Seventh busiest. You'd think that at the seventh busiest airport one of the US Airways baggage handlers would notice that five bags were lying in the main passage lane from the terminal to the tarmac.

My vantage point in the USAirways lounge overlooked the lost baggage. Handler after handler drove past, some with empty carts, most of them slowed down to look at the baggage in the lane. Others actually looked like they were considering stoppping, but perhaps that would be too much trouble - afterall, they're getting paid so there's no need to make sure the passengers get their luggage on time.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes (which is a large enough window for your plane to leave without your baggage), and literally fifty passing handlers, a supervisor in a golf cart finally swung by, picked up the luggage and took them back to the terminal.

Traveling around the world, I hear a lot of maligning of USAirways. This can only contribute to the loss of confidence I hear many people share.