United’s Luggage Handling Is in the Bag

It’s an open-and-shut case of automation at United Air Lines’ baggage-handling operation at Los Angeles International Airport, where at the peak of the current holiday travel season, about 20,000 pieces of baggage are processed daily (compared to the usual 12,000 to 14,000 pieces).

If there are no snags--no suitcase “leashes” or buckles jamming the machinery--a bag makes the trip from curb side check-in to the most distant ramp and onto a cart for loading into the aircraft in a maximum of four minutes.

United’s computerized, $10.5-million system, installed in 1983, does not guarantee luggage will never get lost.

But Frank Clark, general manager of customer services for United at LAX, reports that less than 1% of bags are misplaced and virtually all are ultimately reunited with their owners.

United recommends that travelers choose sturdy luggage, as the now-popular, soft-sided bags do little to protect contents. The airline also says bags should be packed only reasonably tight to avoid lock-popping. “If you have to force it closed, it’s too full,” a United representative said.

Clark advises travelers that, automation notwithstanding, 20 minutes before flight time is the “absolute bare bones” to allow for check-in to ensure that the baggage makes the flight.

Dogs, cats, golf clubs, bicycles, surfboards, bowling balls and scuba tanks are all in a day’s work for United’s baggage handlers. “And we can carry a vaulting pole,” United’s Sue Moss said, “usually on our long, thin planes.”