Southwest (and others?) don't track your bags en route

[Ken555]

After flying Southwest last week and experiencing multiple delays and canceled flights, they also lost one of my bags. Luckily it was on the next flight that landed just shortly after mine. During this process I learned that Southwest does NOT track bags while en route. Upon the suggestion of a gate agent on my return flight, last week I submitted a complaint to Southwest online regarding this and the canceled flight (which was done without reason).

This morning I received a call from Southwest, which I thought was very good customer service. After apologizing five times (at which point I told him to stop) it was confirmed that:

- Southwest does NOT TRACK BAGS. They only scan the barcode upon check-in and at the destination airport, if the bag is unclaimed.
- Southwest has NO IDEA which plane your bag is on at any time. They simply assume it's on the right plane.
- Southwest apparently is in the process of "improving" the tracking system but I was given no assurance of when this might be done nor exactly how it will be improved.

So, my question to you is do other domestic carriers similarly have a don't care attitude about the security and location of our bags? Or, is Southwest alone in this ridiculous lack of service?

I know when traveling internationally the airlines (all, though perhaps not) know exactly where your bags are at every stage of flight. How can we not have similar control over our domestic flights?

I doubt I will check a bag with Southwest again, unless I have no choice.


Sent from my iPad

 

[Luanne]

Well, since SW has never lost a piece of my luggage, I've never had to worry about this.

I'm unclear about the problem. Did you have multiple legs? You said they do scan at departure and destination, so where did the bag(s) get lost?

 

[dioxide45]

According to this fairly recent article, Southwest came in at number 10 (3.08 per 10,000 passengers) for lost baggage. AirTran came in at number 2 (1.58 per 10,000 passengers). Not sure if AirTran is tracking throughout the process or not, but perhaps Southwest can acquire whatever system that AirTran is using to track baggage for Southwest also.

 

[jackio]

Delta does not track your bags in-flight either. I learned this the hard way in July when Laguardia was shut down due to the Southwest crash landing.
Southwest has lost my bags twice, both on connecting flights through Baltimore. The last time we flew to Buffalo to drive to Toronto (approx. 2 hrs) and they told me they would not bring my bags to the hotel; they would fed ex them and they would arrive in about 2 days. We were only staying 3 nights. When I told them I had a CPAP breathing machine in the luggage and that wasn't acceptable, the agreed to bring the luggage to Toronto.

 

[linsj]

United tracks bags on flights. A couple of trips ago my flight out of ORD had a mechanical problem and would be delayed long enough to make me miss my connection. I was rebooked a different route that was leaving right away, so my bags didn't go with me. When I landed and checked on my missing bags, the agent knew what airplane they were on.

 

[Nancy]

American seems to track bags in flight. Ours got delayed in Chicago and American was able to tell us which flight they'd arrive on.

Nancy

 

[Ken555]

Well, since SW has never lost a piece of my luggage, I've never had to worry about this.

Until recently, I've had many years of no problems with Southwest.

I'm unclear about the problem. Did you have multiple legs? You said they do scan at departure and destination, so where did the bag(s) get lost?

Read it again. They only scan at check-in (not when actually putting the bag on the plane) and at the destination airport for unclaimed bags, not all bags. I didn't have multiple legs, but that might only make this worse.

 

[Luanne]

Until recently, I've had many years of no problems with Southwest.



Read it again. They only scan at check-in (not when actually putting the bag on the plane) and at the destination airport for unclaimed bags, not all bags. I didn't have multiple legs, but that might only make this worse.

Sorry, I'm still confused. Bear with me to see if I have this right.

Your bag was scanned at departure. What is the purpose of scan? To show flight number and destination city? The bag should have gone on the same plane you did, but went on a later plane?

I'm not sure what you think SW should have done, other than make sure the bag was on the correct plane. Should the bags be scanned a second time, before they're loaded on the plane?

Quite a few years ago I was flying to Las Vegas, with a checked bag. I had the opportunity to take an earlier flight, after my bag had already been scanned. They were able to locate the bag, pull it back for me, and then get it on the earlier plane. So somehow they knew where it was.

 

[Ken555]

Sorry, I'm still confused. Bear with me to see if I have this right.

Your bag was scanned at departure. What is the purpose of scan? To show flight number and destination city? The bag should have gone on the same plane you did, but went on a later plane?

I'm not sure what you think SW should have done, other than make sure the bag was on the correct plane. Should the bags be scanned a second time, before they're loaded on the plane?

The airline should know at all times where the bag is located. They are unable to do so since the bag is only scanned at the check-in counter (not when actually put on the plane, so they have no idea which plane it was put on). And, since they don't know which plane they put the bag on, they don't know what to say when asked "where is my bag?" when you arrive at your destination but your bag doesn't appear. They "guess" (that was the word the agent used in Las Vegas last week) that it might show up "on a later flight" (I suppose they're used to gambling in LV, so "guessing" may be appropriate for them).

The bags should be scanned, at minimum:
- at check-in
- when placed on a plane
- when removed from a plane

UPS does it. Fedex does it. Even the USPS does it. Other airlines do it (but clearly not all). Why doesn't Southwest?

Quite a few years ago I was flying to Las Vegas, with a checked bag. I had the opportunity to take an earlier flight, after my bag had already been scanned. They were able to locate the bag, pull it back for me, and then get it on the earlier plane. So somehow they knew where it was.

Yes, you can't knowingly change your flight with a checked bag without the bag itself flying on your flight (it may fly on a different flight if that change is outside your control) for security reasons. I suspect they will do this when they have time to manually find the bag and move it to another flight.

 

[Luanne]

UPS does it. Fedex does it. Even the USPS does it. Other airlines do it (but clearly not all). Why doesn't Southwest?

That I cannot answer. I may have missed it, but did you ask them?

 

[Ken555]

That I cannot answer. I may have missed it, but did you ask them?

Sarcasm? You won't joke about this when an airline loses your bag and are not quite as lucky as I was on this occasion.

As I wrote in the original post:

Southwest apparently is in the process of "improving" the tracking system but I was given no assurance of when this might be done nor exactly how it will be improved.

 

[dioxide45]

Does Southwest place a small barcode sticker on the bags when you checkin? I have never flown Southwest, but when flying other airlines, they always put the large tag on the handle and small barcode sticker somewhere else on the bag. I suspect this is to aid in scanning the bags at different points.

 

[Luanne]

Sarcasm? You won't joke about this when an airline loses your bag and are not quite as lucky as I was on this occasion.

As I wrote in the original post:

No, I'm not being sarcastic. Sorry you took it that way. I did see you said that SW is in the process of improving their baggage tracking, but didn't know if they offered that information, if you asked for it or what.

And I have had luggage lost, or delayed. Just not with SW.

 

[Luanne]

Does Southwest place a small barcode sticker on the bags when you checkin? I have never flown Southwest, but when flying other airlines, they always put the large tag on the handle and small barcode sticker somewhere else on the bag. I suspect this is to aid in scanning the bags at different points.

Interesting, I'd always wondered what that barcode sticker was for. We're flying SW, with a plane change, later this month. I'll try to remember to see if they put a barcode tag on the bags.

 

[Ken555]

Does Southwest place a small barcode sticker on the bags when you checkin? I have never flown Southwest, but when flying other airlines, they always put the large tag on the handle and small barcode sticker somewhere else on the bag. I suspect this is to aid in scanning the bags at different points.

Yes, they do. That's why I assumed they, y'know, scan it. But no, it's only apparently used when the bag remains unclaimed at the destination airport.

This assumes, of course, that the three Southwest agents I've spoken with about this have told me correct info. If anyone knows facts to the contrary, I would be most welcome in learning about it. To clarify, when I was called by SW today I had to ask the rep three times to make certain I understood what he was saying, since the first two times he inferred otherwise and only when asked again (and again) did the truth come out.

 

[Ken555]

No, I'm not being sarcastic. Sorry you took it that way. I did see you said that SW is in the process of improving their baggage tracking, but didn't know if they offered that information, if you asked for it or what.

And I have had luggage lost, or delayed. Just not with SW.

No worries! Yes, I had to specifically ask if they were planning on improving the system. What else would the guy say? "No?" Of course I was told they are going to improve it, but he couldn't tell me how or when it would be done, which is rather telling.

 

[Luanne]

No worries! Yes, I had to specifically ask if they were planning on improving the system. What else would the guy say? "No?" Of course I was told they are going to improve it, but he couldn't tell me how or when it would be done, which is rather telling.

Not necessarily. I've worked places where we were told changes were coming, but no details. However since SW prides itself on customer service I'm surprised they didn't have more information available.

 

[dioxide45]

Interesting, I'd always wondered what that barcode sticker was for. We're flying SW, with a plane change, later this month. I'll try to remember to see if they put a barcode tag on the bags.

I think that barcode is for automated scanning as the bab moves through automated scanners. So perhaps it isn't used for scanning bags as they are loaded on to aircraft.