Airlines Losing Less Luggage; Some Employees Stealing More

Airlines in the United States lost 1.3 million fewer pieces of luggage on domestic flights in 2008 than they did the year before.

This may sound like an accomplishment, but it’s merely a consequence. The airlines are carrying fewer pieces of luggage, owing mostly to their new fees on checked bags, so they have less to lose, the Chicago Tribune reports.

This is no doubt alarming to those few scoundrels in the ranks of baggage handlers who are inclined toward larceny, as it constitutes a decline in the number of bags available to steal from. Despite this setback, 10 enterprising Delta employees at Bradley are charged with stealing passengers’ property, mainly electronics, The Hartford Courant reports.

Meanwhile, British Airways, sort of a loss leader in the airline industry, managed to lose Prince Edward’s luggage, The Daily Mirror reports. This, apparently, is just not done, or at least had never been done before. Royal luggage is not to be lost, nor, one assumes, are their iPods to be trifled with.

Breaking with royal tradition, Prince Edward was said to be amused.

Photo: Goreme, Cappadocia, Turkey

Photos were what drew me to Cappadocia, the part of Turkey where people lived in caves for thousands of years. I took this one myself in February 2008 at the Göreme Open-Air Museum:

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