Originally Posted by
ExAbz
Just a general note on baggage tracking, the actual tracking of bags by ground handlers into airport systems (if any) and then onto airlines varies a great deal.
IATA resolution 753 is due to come into force on 1st June 2018, which mandates tracking of bags at 4 key points:
- Passenger handover to airline
- Loading on aircraft
- Deliver to transfer area
- Return to passenger
and additional optional tracking points where practical.
Hopefully the resolution will improve bag tracking, however I know of at least one airport that won't have this in place by the due date.
This is years behind what already exists on most OW carriers, including BA.
The problem is not BA's ability to know when a bag is on a given aircraft, rather it is BA's ability to know where a bag is when it is not loaded.
The IATA resolution is just one more silly effort by IATA to bring some carriers along, but it would not have helped OP.
When BA loads a bag, it knows that the bag is onboard. Thus, if the passenger no shows, it has a mismatch and knows that it must offload the bag. But, the reverse is not true. If you check a bag and board, there is no alarm sounding to alert BA that it is missing your bag.