Originally Posted by
Tchiowa
Not according to both UA and SFO. They take the container with the priority bags first. My bags got loaded into a regular container.
Leave it to a former baggage handler (me) to explain this
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A couple things are happening here...
1) You are right there is a priority container, assuming everything is done right, it's loaded in a position (weight and balance taken into account) whereby it's one of the first offloaded and taken immediately to the carousel.
2) If you are as late as you said, they will not hold that can off the aircraft, as it takes longer to load (possibly delaying the plane further) than it does to either have your bags miss connect or load them in the bulk load.
3) I'd venture to guess your bags were loaded in the bulk as again they don't usually hold cans off the plane for late bags unless there are LOTS of them, because loading the can, closing/tieing it off, up the loader, rotate and into the aircraft, in position, locks up, move the loader away, doors closed, doors locked all take at least 5 minutes just for that last can. So rather than get chastised by management for taking a further 5 minute delay, the plane is closed up and last bags are loaded into the bulk.
4) Let's assume they were in the bulk...now you've got a new set of issues. It may or may not work in your favor. The bulk usually contains the gate check items as well (depending on carrier, aircraft and other policies) so as those are being offloaded, sometimes bags/cargo may come out with it. Sometimes not, if I'm looking for 3 strollers as gate checks, I'm not looking at the bags. But if someone were to just offload everything that's in there, your bag may come out, get noticed as priority tagged and be sent with the priority can.
TL;dr...don't feel so slighted, it seems you may have a bit of a DYKWIA complex (imo) and while you may take this as a personal insult, the fact they held the plane for you is a minor miracle in and of itself. Even for an F pax that's a bit much if it's just the 2 of you, if it's you two +20 econ pax then it makes more sense.
You got stuck in a bit of a crappy situation but ended up getting home in one piece and with just some lost time and nothing else. Smile!
I can't speak to NRT UA rampies, but I can attest to the fact that EWR/IAH priority loading was hit or miss at best (they were CO and mid merger when I was working the flights) we would get 80% of the priority tagged bags off the top, then send them to the carousel. Meanwhile the other 20% are buried haphazardly by the original loading crew, who may just be lazy but I'm sure also had other concerns...IE: late connecting bags and they had to load something rather than stand around and take a delay to ensure those bags got loaded "correctly".