30M Airline Bags Lost In 2005

Mishandled Luggage Cost $2.5B, Up From $1.6B In 2004

(AP) 

There is no industry standard for permanently lost bags, and items in some countries are later sold at auction.

In the United States, the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama, sells more than 1 million items each year. Most of the merchandise sold is clothing, but also includes cameras, electronics, sporting goods, jewelry and of course luggage.

To help the airline industry cope with more passengers and more bags, SITA is promoting use of a tiny computer-style chip on luggage tags that it says will reduce the number of misdirected bags. The luggage labels, known as RFID for radio frequency identification tags, allow for tracking of luggage at all times over wireless networks.

The RFID chips also allow for quick removal of baggage from airplanes when the passenger who checked them fails to show up for the flight, SITA said. But the chips are used at only a limited number of airports so far.

"The industry needs more sophisticated baggage reconciliation systems and greater use of self-service such as check-in through kiosks and on the Web," Violante said. "This will all help to simplify travel, reduce delays and baggage misconnections."

SITA also promotes new technologies aimed at allowing mobile phone use on flights and offers applications for air-to-ground communications and fares services. It had revenues in 2004 of $1.58 billion.