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INTERNATIONAL 10 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE • APRIL 2014 The group's 10th annual SITA Bag- gage Report says that the rate of mis- handled bags in 2013 was less than 7 bags per 1,000 passengers. This is just half the rate reported 10 years ago, de- spite a more than 65 percent increase in passenger numbers over the same period of time. From 2012 to 2013, the rate of mishan- dled bags dropped 21 percent, and the total annual cost of mishandled bags to the industry fell nearly 20 percent. That puts the annual cost of mishandled bags at 50 percent less than in 2007, when the number of mishandled bags peaked at more than 18 bags per 1,000 passen- gers. The industry has achieved this im- provement even as passenger numbers rose more than 5 percent in 2013 to top 3 billion passengers globally. "The industry has joined together to tackle the problem of mishandled bags, and we have seen great results," said Francesco Violante, CEO, SITA, in pre- pared remarks. "There is still more work to do, but 2013 was the best year ever, show- ing the benefts of this collaboration." More immediately, 2013 was another year of improvement for the largest cause of baggage snafus. SITA reports that while transfer bags continue to suffer the most baggage delays. In 2013, for example, they accounted for 45 percent of all delayed bags, but this was an improvement of the 48 percent seen in 2012 and continued the downward trend seen over the past six years when transfer bags represented well over half of all mishandled baggage. "A large part of the improvement in handling transfer baggage is down to greater messaging reliability and better segregation of bags with short connec- tion times, as well as the introduction of early bag stores and smart mobile device for key operational staff," Violante writes in the preface of the report. PROGRESS MADE Annual mishandled bags cost the in- dustry a total of $2.09 billion in 2013, according to the report. But that's an almost 20 percent reduction from 2012, which cut the cost of mishandled bags per passenger to 67 cents. To put this in some perspective, in 2013 the aviation industry's operation cost was $219 per passenger and the industry aver- age proft margin per customer was $7.50. While the cost of mishandled bags per passenger represents just 0.31 percent of that operating overhead, reducing expen- ditures on mishandled bags would have a positive impact on the proft margin. To further understand the progress made, it helps to look at the 10-year trends the report spells out. Global Baggage Delivery Hits All-time High By Steve Smith SITA reports baggage mishandling is lowest ever recorded. A irline baggage delivery hit an all-time high in 2013, with the mishandling rate dropping more than 21 percent from 2012, according to air transport IT specialist, SITA. "The transformation in transfer bag performance over the past eight years has been helped by greater messaging reliability, enabling bags with short connection times to be identifed before they arrive at the airport," the report states. "This allows 'runners' to be dispatched to the aircraft to fnd and separate out any 'short connect' bags." gsm_10-13_International_V5.indd 10 4/9/14 3:52 PM