Airlines Balk at New Rules Over Lost Bags
23 Mar 2018 18:11:18
bloomberg.com
A federal rule change about how airlines count the luggage they lose has pitted Southwest Airlines Co., the “bags fly free” carrier, against its two larger rivals, which tend to charge for the privilege of using the cargo hold.
For decades, an airline’s lost-bag rate has been calculated by dividing the number of people it flies by the number of bags reported missing. Starting next year, the U.S. Department of Transportation plans to change the lost-bag rate arithmetic, replacing passenger counts with bag totals and requiring airlines to tally every checked bag they accept, including those at the gate, transferred from other carriers and the “valet” bags left on a jetway because the overhead bins were too stuffed.
Read full story: bloomberg.com
