The Swiss always on time, but…
111 Passengers on the Swiss airlines flight from Zurich to Spain this Saturday had to be impressed with the cleanliness and efficiency of the plane and the crew. Airplanes these days are scheduled to leave and return with very little time on the ground. You may know that all the airlines are getting really backed up with travel customers and very strong competition for a perfect on time record. This flight’s travelers went to the luggage area and stood around the conveyor belt for up to two hours before the Spanish crew told them there was never any luggage on their plane. Swiss airlines spokesman Kavin Ampalam confirmed that the plane, had taken off with no baggage onboard. “There was a shortage of ground staff,” he told AFP, adding that the crew had waited for the situation to be rectified. For operational reasons we decided to fly to Bilbao without the baggage.” The reason, he explained, was the need to pick up passengers in Bilbao and get the plane back to Zurich before the airport closed for the night.
The pilot had apologized for the delayed takeoff in Zurich, blaming “a lack of qualified personnel,” but made no mention of the decision to leave the baggage behind. Passengers told the paper that no Swiss staff had been on the ground in Bilbao. “Our vacation is ruined,” passenger Carsten Redlich told the Swiss press. Ampalam said he could not confirm that passengers had not been informed about the decision to leave the baggage behind in Zurich. “We are still analyzing the situation to find out what happened exactly and how we can improve,” he said. “This shouldn’t happen.”
Travelers are tracing their own luggage using Airtags and other tracking devices. Many flyers are sharing locations with airlines to speed along the process. A passenger even made a PowerPoint presentation with a map showing their bags location to get the airline to act quickly this trick got media attention. Another passenger was able to track the location of her luggage in the baggage claim using the same technology, even after the staff said it wasn’t there. But many others are not so lucky. Even dogs are having a hard time being reunited with their humans. At Toronto Pearson International Airport, a dog was abandoned for 21 hours and was later found in a pile of lost luggage. Even a night in a hotel en-route will be cheaper than buying all new clothes.
Emotional Baggage
I showed the damaged remains of my luggage to my lawyer and said, “I want to sue the airline.”
“You don’t have much of a case,” he replied.
I just told my luggage there will be no vacations this year.
Now I’m dealing with emotional baggage.
What do Captain Kirk and Mister Spock do to get their baggage up to their hotel room?
Tell a porter.
“Why is the mistletoe hanging over the baggage portion of the airline ticket counter?” asked the airline passenger as she checked in amid the holiday rush. The clerk replied, “So you can kiss your luggage goodbye.”
May 29 Birthdays
1961 – Melissa Etheridge, 1990 – Riley Keough, 1958 – Annette Bening, 1963 – Lisa Whelchel
1903 – Bob Hope, 1984 – Carmelo Anthony, 1914 – Tenzing Norgay, 1917 – John Kennedy