Lost Luggage Nears Historic High

The Skinny: June, July Ranked Among Worst Months For Checking Baggage In 20 Years

(CBS)  The Skinny is Keach Hagey's take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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Normally, if a member of Congress barged screaming through a security barrier and assaulted a modestly-paid airport employee, it would be a chance for the press to snicker and maybe even work up a little outrage about the bad behavior of public officials.

But the case of Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), who is due in court tomorrow on a misdemeanor assault charge, is presented by today's Washington Post as more of a poster boy's rallying cry than a cautionary tale.

That's because when Filner explained after the incident that he was "tired after a delayed flight and frustrated by the subsequent delay of the entire flight's baggage," he actually had a very valid point, according to the Post. The appallingly bad service was not just in Filner's (admittedly somewhat unhinged) mind.

More than 1 million pieces of luggage were lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered by U.S. airlines from May to July, according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. June and July ranked among the 20 worst months for mishandled baggage in 20 years.

"The shoddy service is the crest of five years of steady deterioration in the ability of the major airlines to deliver a checked bag," the Post reports. In 2002, there were 3.84 reports of mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. In July, the fiture was 7.93.

What's to blame? Topping the list is the oh-so-popular restriction on carrying on gels and liquids, which has led to a surge in the number of checked bags since August 2006. (As if we needed another reason to hate that rule.) Adding to those woes are staffing cutbacks during the industry's downturn a few years ago, major carriers' reliance on hubs, an increase in smaller airplanes that have weight restrictions on luggage and, of course, an antiquated air traffic control system that causes more and more delayed and cancelled flights.

In short, as one expert put it, "The customer is going to keep taking it on the chin."

Air Travel Is Both More Annoying And Safer Than Ever

Although your chances of being frustrated to the point of doing something you regret during air travel are higher than ever, your chances of dying while flying have been declining for a decade, the New York Times reports.

Fatal crashes have gone down 65 percent over the past 10 years, to one fatal accident in about 4.5 million departures down from one in nearly 2 million.

The drop is a result of the government's efforts to force the airline industry to reduce the domestic rate of fatal accidents, after two infamous crashes in 1996 killed 375 people together. The goal was to drop the rate by 80 percent in 10 years.

Some of the drop is plain luck, but the rest of it can be explained by a bunch of little changes seeking to nip potential problems in the bud. Equipment improvements have also helped.

"It's not one thing," said John Cox of the Air Line Pilots Association. "It's a series of small things."

Spanish-Language Networks Lead The Digital TV Education Charge

Quick, what's the significance of Feb. 17, 2009?

If you don't know - it's when the television industry will switch to digital-only broadcasting - you might benefit from a bit of education on the subject. But for the moment, you'll only get it in Spanish.

That's because Univision, the No. 1 Spanish-language broadcaster, will be the first major network owner to launch a public service ad campaign about the change when it begins airing messages today, USA Today reports.

Univision is concerned about the coming change because nearly 28 percent of Hispanic households - and 43 percent of homes were Spanish is the primary language - watch TV only via over-the-air transmissions. By contrast about 16 percent of non-Hispanic white households and 23 percent of African Americans depend solely on broadcast signals.

While most other broadcasters aren't going to start hyping the switch until November, Univision is starting now to be sure viewers are ready to deal with a federal subsidy program beginning in January. The government will offer each household an opportunity to receive two $40 coupons to help pay for converter boxes for their analog TVs. They could cost as much as $70 a piece.

And yes, you heard that right: the government is subsidizing the watching of television.

Newspaper Circulation Is Dropping. So What?

Paper-and-ink enthusiasts and other media watchers have long taken it for granted that newspapers are dying because the Web is killing them.

But the New York Times reports today that much of steady decline in newspapers' circulation has actually been intentional - and not necessarily caused by the migration of readers to the Web. The real culprit is that advertisers are getting more sophisticated and no longer want to pay to distribute their information to less-than-highly-targeted readers.

"Driven by marketing and delivery costs and pressure from advertising, many papers have decided certain readers are not worth the expense involved in finding, serving and keeping them," the Times reports.

As a result, newspapers' traditional customer-expansion efforts like cold-calling people during dinner are out; those obnoxious printed inserts that fall on the subway floor when you open the paper are in.

"There is a school of thought these days that you stop actively selling altogether and let the readership seek its natural level," said Jack Klunder, senior vice president for circulation at the Los Angeles Times, which has lost more circulation this decade than any other paper.


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[whispyseas]

'' ... most folk most time dance get well feed world, but that little girl she''s evil for sure, she lurks among the hold hands weave bouquets, she plays first aid on the trail, but i tell ya, she''s evil, she''s really all get sick tax world, cuff cage collar, mug rape kill, she''s evil, i swear, and i don''t mean the avg 90 hours a year of dancing wicked-style porn songs neither, most folk most time are well behaved, but not her, and as long as not her, then not me, till she''s gone ... ''

[nolalou]

Well, at least Rep. Bob Filner didn''t get handcuffed and thrown into a holding cell, and left there to suffocate, after his tirade at the airport!

[tnt1954]

think things are bad now, just wait till there
is common ordinary commercial space travel.
things are looking up though, especially prices.
in the revisionist history of the future, when
all is forgiven and forgotten, the civil war never
happened, neither did slavery, neither did world
war one, world war two, or all the current wars.
nobody even thinks about what went on today, yesterday
or in the future. they are just kinda in suspended
animation. ''out of time''. like the famous mick
jagger/rolling stones song/out of time.

[rushlimpdrug]

"Normally, if a member of Congress barged screaming through a security barrier and assaulted a modestly-paid airport employee, it would be a chance for the press to snicker and maybe even work up a little outrage about the bad behavior of public officials"

Really?
" . assaulted a modestly-paid airport employee. . "
"bad behavior"?
How about calling it criminal terroristic behavior?

Going through airports these days is freaking terrible.
I used to enjoy flying.
Nowdays I dread every bit of it.
And unfortunately it will never get any better.

[shanev137]

July Ranked Among Worst Months For Checking Baggage In 20 Years.....yea, but don''t get mad about it, or the TSA will murder you.

[whispyseas]

'' ... what multi trillion dollar nuclear biological chemical stealth raype get sick tax world machine screaming ''i dare you to stay off drugs'' and ''i shock and awe you to stay off terror'' and forclosing on each farm, school, hospital in the world ... ''



'' ... most folk most time dance get well feed world, that little girl is evil, lurks among normal, but really get sick tax world, cuff collar mug rape, swear, not hike naked dance dressed porn songs or off backs of dragons to break bones for fun, most behave, but not her, or me till she''s gone ... ''



'' ... can''t give less than free food free medicine 4ever ... nah, to feed the world i must tax all & deny to begging .. soo laughing .. if avg county 577 sq miles, 90,000 folk, 300 16 acre trail crossings,300 (90,000) folk in 300 weeks turn out 90,000 (billions)(little eco friendly non resource depleting) museums of medical you are here map song dance skit kit for small tips, avg home 340 sq ft + 2500 sq ft garden at $2400 - $60,000; then, on cosmic scale: avg cosmic county makeup? how many naked folk dance get well feed world songs rallyd round the sick beds drifting the spore bloom weed dragon trail fickle first aid lunch farm cottage studio trail groups at each crossing? ... ''



'' ... eternal storyboards swimming infinite oceans of eternal storyboards ... ''