Spare baggage - what do airlines do with it?
Let X be the number of kgs that a passenger is allowed to check-in based on class of traveler. It would be fair to assume that, not every passenger would carry exactly that weight baggage. It maybe slightly lesser. However, when you sum up all these small differences, the overall difference may not be so trivial.
What do the airlines do about this? What are the statistics around this - i.e., how close are airlines in reaching the limit of X kgs? Is there any way, airlines monetise this at the last minute?
Best Answer
Checked baggage is figured based on averages, in the same fashion as passenger weight. It is not counted kilo for kilo against a grand total. Likewise, they use averages for carry on baggage's weight.
Cargo is figured on container / palete counts, as only so many fit in a plane, they can't add more because there is less baggage, unless the lower amount equals an entire container or two less baggage. Containers do have weight limits, but often the container's volume is filled before it's max cargo weight is reached. And most were scheduled for that flight long before they had a checked bag count.
So from a practical point of view there are no extra kilos due to baggage counts.
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What do airlines do with luggage?
Depending on the airport, they will often go off to the sorting office, where either robots or staff will sort them to go off to the right plane, or alternatively be sorted and stored ready for your flight at a later time. During this journey, your bags will be screened at a security checkpoint.What happens to bags left at baggage claim?
The airline has to pay for storing unclaimed baggage at the airport, so it's in their best interest to deliver it to its rightful owner as soon as possible. They usually ask the passenger to come back to the airport and pick it up or deliver it via courier services, such as FedEx or UPS.What do airlines do with lost items?
\u201cThe crew go through and empty all the seat pockets and overhead lockers, checking for lost items, placing them on the seats. If goods are found, they are passed on to ground staff who will take the items to an airline or airport lost property.\u201d🛑AIRLINE BAGGAGE POLICY | 5 THINGS YOU MUST KNOW! Free Baggage, Prohibited Items, etc
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