Bags Fly Free But At What Cost?

On December 7 my wife, Sheryl, returned from Chicago after visiting our daughter Stephanie. Though her plane arrived on time, all was not well. We waited at the Oakland airport for her luggage for what seemed like an eternity. As the minutes seemed to go on and on, I stopped in at the Southwest Airlines customer service counter in the baggage claim area. I asked if the luggage is unloaded by Southwest Airlines employees or is it handled by airport employees who service all of the airlines. The Southwest Airlines representative told me that bags are loaded and unloaded by Southwest Airlines personnel. Eventually bags from her flight started to emerge on the luggage carousel 40 minutes after her flight had landed.

Air travel is becoming less and less enjoyable. Taking a flight requires getting to the airport several hours early to be able to check in and make it through airport security. After waiting at the gate for take-off, one endures the long flight without meals or in-flight movies. Luckily a good book is a great way to pass the time. Once your plane does touch down at your destination, you really are ready to get out of the airport and head home. Waiting another 40 minutes to get your bags only lessens the experience. Though it is possible to fly without checking-in bags, the 3 ounce limitation on liquids makes this impossible for travelers with hygiene products in excess of these minuscule amounts. Purchasing toiletries at your destination or checking in your bags are the two most viable options.

On January 2, Sheryl and I flew from Houston to Oakland. As we were gone 11 days, our travel items were voluminous enough to be larger than small carry-on bags. Once again we seemed to wait for our bags for an eternity. As the wait dragged on, I went over to the Southwest Airlines counter and asked what the expected wait time was for bags to emerge. The representative told me that although times vary based on how much luggage is on each flight, the goal is 20 to 25 minutes. Unfortunately for us, on this day, the luggage carousel had a mechanical problem - a red light was continuously on. Although this light was on at the time we entered the baggage area, no one from Southwest noticed or attempted to use the carousel and remedy the problem until 40 minutes (once again) after the flight landed. The problem took 11 minutes to correct, so bags did not start coming on to the carousel until 51 minutes after the flight. This is hardly near the 20 to 25 minute goal that Southwest Airlines sets for itself.

Southwest Airlines likes to brag that, unlike with other airlines, bags fly free. It's great that bags fly free but maybe they shouldn't? Perhaps they should charge and use the money to hire baggage handlers who could unload airplanes closer to the 20 to 25 minute goal? The sad part is that we fly Southwest Airlines using their web-only lowest fares; however, even if we paid the extra money for "Business Select" tickets, our luggage would not get to us any faster. Maybe this is just a problem at the Oakland airport? What have your baggage claim wait times been at Oakland or other airports? What about other airlines? Comment below and let's see if a pattern of wait times emerges.

Autodesk Labs is about feedback. Maybe we can collect some and send it to Southwest Airlines. They say "time is money" and if that is the case, bags cost a lot.