Yesterday’s developments in the UK validate what Universal Express CEO Richard Altomare has been saying for years: Passengers should be separated from their luggage.
While the practice of relieving passengers of their luggage has become a security issue, the concept began as an exercise in convenience.
Altomare’s belief that luggage should be treated as cargo and shipped on freighters rather than in the belly space of passenger aircraft was inspired by his own experiences as a traveller.
Universal Express offers a service that involves collection of a passenger’s luggage from his point of departure (e.g.home, office or hotel) and delivery to his final destination, almost anywhere in the world.
Originally aimed at the high-end market, it soon became clear that the service was equally beneficial to disabled or elderly passengers, families travelling with young children, and travellers with bulky or heavy sports gear, such as golf clubs.
With the current hastily imposed restrictions on what airline passengers may take with them into the cabin, what was previously “hand luggage” has effectively become “cargo”.
And therein lies a can of worms. Airlines have been separating passengers from their luggage for years. Between 0.4% and 0.6% of airline passengers in the US suffer from the “breakfast in Boston, lunch in London, suitcase in Singapore” syndrome.
The percentages don’t look much, until you apply them to the total number of flyers every day. According to Universal Express chief operating officer Cecelia Vesnesky, on average, 57 suitcases are lost every minute – in the US alone.
With hand luggage now being pushed into the cargo hold, the number of bags has effectively doubled, which must surely increase the odds of luggage going astray.
Furthermore, for airline passengers in South Africa, it is common knowledge that individual items often disappear from checked baggage. When passengers were able to keep their valuables with them in the cabin, much of this pilferage was limited to items of clothing, books, etc. The new hand luggage restrictions mean that laptops, cell-phones, iPods, cameras and other expensive items are also fair game.
Just last week, the Association of European Airlines (AEA), Freight Forwarders International (FFI) and the Technology Asset Protection Association (TAPA) pronounced Johannesburg airport’s cargo crime levels “unacceptably high”.
“It’s going to be like Christmas for opportunistic baggage handlers,” said one disgruntled seasoned traveller, who has fallen victim in the past to petty pilferage from his checked bags.
It’s almost as if Altomare saw this coming.
“Richard Altomare is a visionary,” Ms Vesnesky told eyefortransport yesterday. “He’s seen our efforts as a security measure. He believes it’s an absolute necessity for our countries to pay closer attention to airport security. Although we are TSA approved to transport luggage in the belly space of passenger aircraft, we choose not to do this for security reasons. We partner with a network of subcontracted airlines, cargo companies and couriers.”
And if passengers are going to hand over their valuables, they may as well hand them over to a company that has, to date, lost ZERO percent of the luggage it handles.
With the current security crisis in the airline industry and the relegation of passengers’ luggage to “cargo”, the issue of cargo security has taken on a whole new dimension.
eyefortransport’s 5th Cargo Security Forum has become more relevant than ever. It is the only event where the transport and logistics industry gathers to discuss comprehensive long-term strategies for cargo security. This year’s Forum takes place in Washington DC on September 6 – 7.
For more details, go to www.eyefortransport.com/cargosecurity06/
