sunpass

I am well familiar with how WN functions and have had only one incident of a bag being misplaced in dozens of trips on WN.

I am trying to convince a relative, who is a very infrequent flyer that it is okay to check a bag for their upcoming WN flight which will go from PHL to BNA then connect to another WN flight from BNA to MCI. The layover in BNA is about 50 minutes or so.

I've just never given much thought as to what goes on behind the scenes with regards to sorting of bags for trips that have a WN connecting flight. Are they separated into their own seperate bins based on ultimate destination?

Thanks!

jmw

There are a lot of videos on Youtube that show how bags go through various major airports. I think the mishandling rate on bags is around 3 per 1000 bags on automated airport baggage conveyor systems. This is not new and bleeding edge technology. It's been around a while. It's now 2021 and works great. Watch a video or two and confidently check it in.

lougord99

I only know this because of I always sit in the window and I often am sitting behind the wing. I also know this from bags that I see on the belt at pickup.

Bags that transfer from 1 plane to another plane are tagged with a purple tag labeled "transfer". They are clearly segregated in the hold of the plane, because they always come off the plane early and together. The people taking the bags off the plane and putting them on the carts for transport always put the 'transfer' bags together in a separate part of the cart.

I suspect they are treated differently when they leave the plane.Your relative should not be concerned.

sunpass

I was more focused on the human aspect of it at the point of the connection airport, not the initial introduction of the bag into the system at the originating Airport.

m907

lougord99 explained it to you.

LegalTender

As long as the guy doesn't comingle MCO with MCI, it will all work out.

djp98374

the split sgs

1 for baggage claim
2 for connection
3 for continuation in flight ( these stay on plane unless there is an aircraft change)

special tags given to status and business select

the bring bags to centralized location then exchange bags for connecting flights. Bags brought to connecting flight.

BNA is a major hub fir southwest so they have improved system vs a secondary airport that usually doesn’t have change planes PAX

sure luggage coukd miss connection flight. Since bna is a hub and this isn’t the last flight of the day, they will put it in next flight. Southwest makes extra effort fir last flight if day to connectpax and their luggage.

PAX62

How they are handled depends on the station and if there are delays.

It can be everything from they all back to a centralized sort to the connecting flight to runners that will pull bags direct off the belt to rush to a waiting flight if they are delayed and waiting for bags.

Unlike other carriers Southwest is one of the best in making sure bags get to their destination with passengers as they don't wanna deal with the cost of shipping bags on missed flights. Hundreds of flights over decade plus and I have only ever had 1 bag not make a connection...and it was not even a connection...it was a thru flight and the bag accidentally got pulled off at the layover. They had it already on the way to the destination on the next flight before I even realized it was not on the carousel.

sunpass

Yes, they are flying as business select for their trip.

jerseytom

At some point though the bags still need to get on and off a cart driving around on the ramp, yeah?

Not specific to Southwest nor BNA, but a few months back I recall sitting looking out the window waiting to taxi over to a gate, watching bag carts drive by at a major airport. One zips by and a bag just falls off. Made me wonder how long it takes for that to be noticed and someone else to go scoop it up and get it where it needs to go. Seems like that'd be the part of the process where things can go awry.

Still, I've likewise seen statistics that for the industry on the whole, 3 bags lost per thousand is typical and has gradually improved over the years. About twice as good as it'd been in the early 90's.

slariz

I've started putting an Apple Airtag in my checked bags so I can effectively track it and see if it made it onto my plane. If it didn't, I can pretty much see exactly where it was left.

joshua362

S... does happen but I flew WN exclusively every other week for 16 years, always with bags, connecting 90% of the time and only had 2 incidents. Both involved late connections. I wouldn't check the Hope Diamond but this is nothing to worry about or that you can control. Even if you knew with an "Airtag" that bag was left behind, I doubt you'll be able to bring it to anyone's attention to fix it before you departed again...

Peoriaman1

Probably on the tarmac where it fell off the cart.... About to be run over by a 737!

rsteinmetz70112

I was at a temporary airport in Turkey once and while were were waiting to board, the plane taxied into position near the luggage carts and blew some of the luggage several feet into the air and several yards away from the cart.

TravelerMSY

The thing to tell the relative is that the 50 minutes doesn’t matter. Bags move much faster than people do on a connection, and while passengers have to line up 15 minutes before scheduled departure, the bags can and are loaded right up until the plane departs. Plenty of time.