Resolution 753 introduction

IATA and Airlines for America have launched a year-long global campaign related to baggage tracking, with the goal of reducing mishandled bags in addition to increasing efficiency in baggage operations.

Annually, more than 4bn bags are carried by airlines globally although fewer than 0.43% do not actually arrive with their owners. The industry is determined to do even better and to that end has agreed on Resolution 753. By June 2018 airlines have committed to being able to track a bag when it is accepted at the airport, loaded on to an aircraft, transferred to the arrival system or put into the transfer system for carriage by another airline. Airlines should also be able to share this tracking information with interline carriers as needed.

“Arriving without a bag is a very frustrating experience for our customers. Over the last decade we have reduced mishandled baggage by 54% with improved processes. The next step is to realise the full benefits of baggage tracking to further improve performance. In the rare cases when a bag does not arrive with the passenger there will be much more information available to facilitate a quicker reunion. And the benefits don’t stop there. Tracking bags will enable proactive reporting, speed up aircraft readiness for departure, facilitate the automation of baggage processes and reduce fraud,” commented Andrew Price, IATA’s Global Head of Baggage.

The answer to laptop bans?

The TSA’s latest baggage screening technology for checked baggage uses computed tomography to provide three-dimensional images of bags and their contents to detect possible threat items. 

The TSA’s current screening technology for carry-on bags uses two-dimensional images at checkpoints. The 3D images provide a greater capability and as such, the TSA has been working with vendors to develop and reduce in size the CT 3D technology that could be installed at checkpoints: as they stand, the units are too big.

The technology derives from the medical sector and TSA is working with L3 Communications and Integrated Defense & Security Solutions to pilot this new CT 3D screening equipment at checkpoints. A limited pilot of the equipment got underway in one screening lane at Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport and one screening lane at Logan International airport beginning in the month of June 2017.

Mike England is National Spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration.

“At this point we do not have an exact time table for the adoption of the new devices or whether they will some day eliminate current laptop and liquids protocols/restrictions. TSA will build specific requirements through these pilot programnes in the future, qualifying the machines for everyday use.”

PRM statistics not healthy

The Government Accountability Office has revealed that the number of complaints levied against airlines by disabled travellers has doubled in the space of ten years and now totals over 30,000 a year. The number of disability complaints filed with the department also rose in that same period, escalating from 511 to 944.

Since 2005, the department says that it has investigated 51 cases involving disabilities. In this context, enforcement actions have included warning letters or consent orders for corrective action.

These findings rather fly in the face of 12 of the airlines which were studied, all of which have been adamant that they have repeated training programmes for helping disadvantaged customers.