Comments on: What happens to your luggage after you check it at the airport?

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:18:00 +0000

If I were gonna steal a DVD box set that’d be pretty high on my list. Fair play if you ask me.

By: obeyken

obeyken — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:54:00 +0000

Hey they left out the part where the baggage handlers went through my luggage and stole the Twin Peaks DVD box set that my parents bought me for Christmas.

By: Guest

Guest — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:41:00 +0000

Who are you people with fragile things in your luggage?

OH NOES, THEY SHATTERED MAI PANTZ

By: Guest

Guest — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:39:00 +0000

Most of the reason for the ban is so you’re not distracted. Unpossible, apparently.

By: Guest

Guest — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:38:00 +0000

if it had a Delta tag on it, it’s Delta’s problem.

By: wygit

wygit — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:56:00 +0000

“It was also interesting to get a reminder that luggage is loaded into and unloaded from the airplane by hand.”

I remember the first time I flew into Prague, and while waiting for the luggage, which was popping out of the chute one…bag…every…20…seconds, I walked over to the window overlooking the tarmac, (this was a couple of decades ago), and there was one elderly-looking gentleman taking a bag off the cart… walking it over to the conveyer into the terminal… setting it down (kind of gently),… walking back to the cart…

Not being in any kind of hurry, it was sorta cute. I imagine if I had had an appointment, it might have been a little frustrating.

By: jb

jb — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:32:00 +0000

Don’t believe for an INSTANT that the loaders couldn’t recognize the orange dayglo bag with “Delta Baggage Handling Commercial” plastered on the outside…

Challenge to Delta: arrange for 100 digital accelerometers to be placed randomly in luggage and publish the unedited results.

By: Hubris Sonic

Hubris Sonic — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:53:00 +0000

That music didn’t help alleviate the boredom I experienced watching that… meh.

By: regsf

regsf — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:45:00 +0000

One thing to note is that luggage is moved globally on the same system. Any airline can track any piece of baggage. United lost my suitcase for 2 weeks and a friend that worked for Air Emirates had me my suitcase in 2 hours after I complained to him.

By: awjt

awjt — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:18:00 +0000

You mean bugger belief. Because that’s what they do to your luggages.

By: awjt

awjt — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:17:00 +0000

They also left out the part where it gets stomped on by gorillas, shit on by a giraffe, sat on by a rhino, thrown against a wall repeatedly by a clan of Pterodactyls, only to be pried open by a jerkface, who then rifles through it all looking for dildos. Then leaves you a note. They forgot that part.

By: flowerchild

flowerchild — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:16:00 +0000

I’d have more patience if I hadn’t found out that the company with the ground support contract hadn’t hired enough staff to offload the amount of planes landing at London Gatwick while we waited an hour for our bags. How to win a contract: Bid low but don’t honour the clause that says you can fulfill the necessary work.
Then there’s the damage to baggage in ways that beggar belief…

By: mccrum

mccrum — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:57:00 +0000

Oh, I think there are enough of those videos out there that people don’t need to get their cameras broken proving it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNlMhyMvHp8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYEDqRkyQFo

By: Green Ghost

Green Ghost — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:49:00 +0000

I missed the part where it was loaded on the wrong plane and then hand delivered 3 days later with items missing. But I’m sure that would be an isolated rare occurrence. No bitterness from me, none at all.

By: bcsizemo

bcsizemo — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:37:00 +0000

Well a video would be nice. Most average/non tech oriented people aren’t going to read through paragraphs of information and study various charts. It’s one thing to say a package suffered X force on this impact, it’s another to show someone the package getting tossed out the back of a UPS van onto the pavement.

By: guanto

guanto — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:09:00 +0000

Nah, not Delta. Whoever runs the airport (or some contractor).

By: fenrox

fenrox — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:51:00 +0000

Typo: “there’s some people doing their best to get it to me fast and without throwing it around everywhere.” should be “there’s some people doing their “best” to get it to me fast and without throwing it around everywhere.”

By: LinkMan

LinkMan — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:30:00 +0000

In my video, the Kia Party Rock hamsters would be rhythmically rifling through bags and comparing finds. “Every day I’m rifling…”

By: Shibi_SF

Shibi_SF — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:24:00 +0000

I’ve been behind the rubber curtain at Mexico City’s Int’l Airport (at Christmastime) and I can tell you that they dispense with the long conveyor belts and go -brute force, -read the tag with your human eyes and then -fling/toss the luggage into a cargo hauler with your bag.

By: ahecht

ahecht — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:14:00 +0000

I noticed a conspicuous lack of the onmidirectional barcode scanners like the ones that were installed in my local Southwest baggage claim area a decade ago. Does Delta use RFID now, or is there no real tracking of the packages?

By: mccrum

mccrum — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:13:00 +0000

What, like this? With bonus sensors and everything?
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/tests/which-shipping-company-is-kindest-to-your-packages

TLDR: Don’t mark your stuff “Fragile”

By: Keystone

Keystone — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:10:00 +0000

If they were flying out of PDX, they would have to skip the part where the airport handlers go through your bag for stuff they want.

By: thivai

thivai — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:09:00 +0000

If ever a meme was needed–response videos showing interpretations of what the security segment looks like.
For example, I imagine there’s one TSA agent trying on your clothes while another one defecates directly into your suitcase. Dunno how that would go over–not everyone is as into subtle metaphor as I am.

By: igpajo

igpajo — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:02:00 +0000

So Toy Story 2 was pretty accurate!

By: Bink Binkerson

Bink Binkerson — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:49:00 +0000

“Security” is some magic step where the TSA goons inspect your bags for anything valuable and then confiscate it for “security reasons”. You get to your destination, and it’s gone. But you arrived safely, so you are still grateful for their saving you from Evil Bad Guy Terrorists who hate your way of life.

By: LinkMan

LinkMan — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:41:00 +0000

Not to mention that somebody had to warn the TSA goons not to steal these particular cameras.

By: bcsizemo

bcsizemo — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:39:00 +0000

Someone should do this with a package through UPS/FedEx/USPS, ect.. That way people can get a real idea of how you need to package things so they aren’t broken when they make it to their destination. Bonus if the packaged contained G-force and shock sensors to determine impact forces.

By: Huw Morgan

Huw Morgan — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:24:00 +0000

Nice bit of Tycho as the BGM

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:23:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=749iU2Zv1kw

By: ToMajorTom

ToMajorTom — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:13:00 +0000

I assume Delta got permission to film all of this (and alerted TSA), so I can’t imagine why all the blurred stuff. To make it seem more real and less like a commercial? I don’t know.