Firm offers to trace lost airline luggage

MANILA, Philippines -  When actress Claudine Baretto lost her luggage last summer during a trip from Boracay to Manila, she berated the airline employee of a low cost carrier, which led to the reported brawl between her husband and a newspaper columnist.

Airline companies usually advise passengers who lost their luggage not to take their anger out on the baggage agent.

“Although the person at the counter represents an airline, he or she didn’t personally lose your bag for you,” an airline executive said.

What a passenger should do is report the matter to the airline concerned, fill up a lost luggage form. Hopefully, within a few hours, the lost baggage would find its way to the home of the owner. For international flights, the process may, take 24 hours to 15 days.

 There is now a company that can trace lost luggage and provide “centralized solutions” to air carriers that require flight dispatch, aircraft servicing, staffing, crewing, flight planning, weight and balance, hotel bookings, providing cabin staff and more.

Rabbi Vincent Ang, operations manager of the Aviation Concept Logistics (ACL) said his company has a software that can trace lost luggage, like “World Tracer Web Mobile.” One a baggage is located, it is reported back to a particular air carrier and eventually, the lugage ends up at the owner’s hand.

Mishandled baggage cost the airline industry worldwide an estimated $2.94 billion in 2011, according to data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

This while 99.1 percent of checked baggage was delivered on time to passengers last year, the highest rate of successful delivery since the report was first produced and represents savings of $650 million to the air transport industry, according to SITA (Societe International de Telecommunications Aeronautiques), the IT provider for the air transport industry.

A word of advice; “Don’t leave the airport without making a report.” Ang said.

Finding lost baggage is just one of the tasks ACL does.

Since the advent of LCC’s, most of their activities are now “outsourced” enabling these budget carriers to slash the cost of air tickets.

The company is registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and has connections with many of the big names in the insurance business, which forms an integral part of their operations.