Surface Interval

My sis, who does not travel to speak of was VDB'ed for fair comp earlier today on a MCO-ORD-CLE flight. Got on the MCO-CLE flight + comp, arrives much earlier. Win-win in my book. She took the VDB about 45min before takeoff. She proceeded to hang around MCO about 1.5hrs waiting for the later flight. Which would seem to be adequate time to transfer bags. She got into CLE and her bags did not. After watching all of the bags go by and people leave, she was told by the friendly baggage person that her bags wound up going to ORD and would arrive later. Question is: is this even legal? I thought that baggage was not allowed to travel without the person on board.

After about an hour wait, they told her to go home and they would ship her the bags.

Red_Rob

Your bags can't ship if you don't board your first segment. After that they may take a different flight. Happens all the time in IRROPS. Imagine your bag missing a flight, if the rule was as you described it could never catch up to you (or you would have to fly back to get it).

As for the (not directly asked) security implications, IMHO this (and many other) rule falls into the annoyance without a security benefit category. So I don't really worry about loopholes.

Surface Interval

In this case; this would have been the first segment of a two segment trip. Seems like the good folks at the TSA might have issues with the way it was handled?

Txubito

If she took an earlier connection flight and her bags didn't make it then thats ok according to TSA.

The problem would have been if she didn't make the connection and her bags did. That would have meant a $10,000 per bag fine for the airline.

On the first segment of a flight the bags can go on a different flight if there are extenuating circumstances - it happened to me when SFO was evacuated due to a security alert.

SEA1K4EVR

Bags traveling on alternative flights are completely legal if it's the airline's choice..not the passenger's. There is no bag to passenger matching on domestic flights.

That is just not true.

WineCountryUA

there is no baggage match / must travel with passenger requirement for domestic only travel in the USA. Passenger can not request but the airlines can do (and regularly do) it for operational reasons.

Txubito

I stand corrected then.

I got this info directly from the agent at the gate once when my bags flew on a connection without me and she must not have known what she was talking about (which is entirely possible from experience)

SEA1K4EVR

Definitely possible! Along the same lines as hearing about merger plans from a flight attendant.

Often1

No bag match since 2004 and even when there was a bag match, misconnects were never included.

jchock1

I've always been skeptical of the existence of the bags-must-be-on-the-same-plane-as-the-passenger rule, either domestic or international. And if the rule does exist, what's the stated reason for the rule/regulation? Is the rationale for the "rule" so that a terrorist can't be voluntarily bumped, and thus doesn't die when the bomb in his suitcase goes off. Really???

I know they claim it's a rule, especially internationally, but I've never seen the rule/regulation itself. I can't imagine that every single international flight where a passenger with checked baggage doesn't board (too many drinks at the bar, etc), that they take off his/her bags.


Can someone point me to a link from some authority, TSA, FAA, etc. that shows this rule/regulation?? Or even an airline's rule stating that a bag must travel with the pax? There were some other FT forums where this was discussed, but didn't see any evidence of the rule/regulation.

fastair

Here is a reference to 1999 proposed rules. I know of no carriers that use the 100% PPBM option, especially given that one of the options, 100% screening is accomplished by the TSA. http://epic.org/privacy/faa/profile_NPRM.html

Note this isn't exactly what you are looking for, but it is a public document regarding the subject from pre-TSA days. You aren't going to find any air carrier employee who wants to keep his/her job posting their employees operational security procedures on a public website.

CleUnited

I'll make it simple for what we're supposed to do- Move a passenger, move the bag. Usually atleast an hour before a flight is what is requested of us in CLE to at least pull the bag and transfer it to the new flight. Other stations vary depending on size. I take it probable (maybe almost definite) miscommunication in MCO about passenger and bag is why she ended up without it. There could have been other factors as well, but who really knows?

-CLE-

Surface Interval

I was just posing the question as to why, since my mind is still living in the past when you simply could not do this. I recall sitting on a plane with the captain coming on the overhead stating that we were waiting for a no-show that had checked his bag. That was give or take 10 years ago. However, given the situation on the ground - a flight that was about 1/4 empty at T-2, then asking for vol's at T-0.75, means something went wrong. Probably a MX with another flight that suddenly folks needed to be on THIS plane (MCO-ORD). Either way, they did well by me getting her on a flight that arrived earlier and VDB vouchers. The fact that her luggage gets home later this evening (hope, hope), is not really all that bad. My only real gripe is that they did not do a good job communicating this to the PAX. Keeping in mind that she is not a frequent flyer. I would have been at the baggage desk after the first few non-priority bags showed up

Surface Interval

Follow up: just got an email from http://www.wheresmysuitcase.com/ stating that the bags have been 'found' and that a driver will be assigned soon. Not had this experience. Nice to have some form of communication.

SFOFastAir

In the wake of the Air India Flight 182 bombing in 1985 that killed 329 people, full PPBM was required in 1989 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for all international flights. The FAA required a positive match of bags to boarding passengers in airports which were classified as extraordinary security risks airports. Frankfurt and London were two prominent airports categorized by the FAA as falling into that category.

I believe the applicable US law is 14 CFR part 108. The law essentially say air carriers must develop security programs the meat the security requirements and have their program approved by the FAA.