The airlines call it Lofo luggage – last on, first off. All passengers know is that the bags they intended to be their carry-on cabin baggage takes a sudden, last-minute detour to the plane’s hold, where different rules apply.
It’s a scenario all too familiar to frequent flyers – passengers being stopped by airline crew as they’re about to board a plane, and being relieved of their hand luggage.
I’m always amazed at how meekly most relinquish their bags or cases, and how few do so without opening them up first to remove their valuables.
Here’s the thing – airlines will compensate passengers for the loss of their bags, or the more common loss of items pilfered from their bags, albeit using an international formula based on weight which usually doesn’t come close to covering the actual value of the losses.
But the airlines will not compensate for any damage to or loss of valuables such as cellphones, jewellery, laptops, electronic items, cash, credit cards, documents, spectacles and sunglasses from carry-on baggage. At all.
We all have to travel with some or all of those valuables, so we pack them into our cabin regulation-size carry-on bags, intending to keep them on our person, right?
Then, as you’re about to board a plane with such a bag or case, along comes an airline crew member and insists that as the overhead lockers are too full, you should convert your carry-on bag into one that lands up in the hold.
I have yet to hear one of them say: “And please open it up right here and remove any documents, glasses, money or jewellery from it, because if they get stolen from the hold, you won’t get compensated a cent.”
Ironically, it’s mainly because Joburg’s OR Tambo International Airport is so notorious for baggage pilfering that so many passengers are choosing to travel light with carry-on bags rather than check baggage in, thus creating a shortage of overhead locker space.
A complaint which landed in my inbox two days after Christmas highlights just how unfair the practice of forcing passengers to relinquish their carry-on luggage is. An Austrian citizen called Nathalie, who asked that I not use her full name, boarded a 1pm 1Time flight bound for Cape Town at OR Tambo on December 27.
As she was about to step into the plane, she was asked to hand over her hand luggage for loading in the hold. It was regulation cabin size, but she was told that there was no room on the plane.
Nathalie insists that she was not advised to remove valuables from her suitcase.
She was simply given a Lofo card tag as a receipt. The tag carries no warnings about the removal of valuables.
On landing in Cape Town, the case was handed to her in the “tunnel” as she left the plane, and when she got to her guest house in Sea Point, she discovered that her laptop and a camera lens, still in its original box, were missing.
Her most devastating loss was the data on that computer – highly strategic information relating to her senior position with an international company.
The theft was reported to both the police and 1Time, and the owner of the guest house took up Nathalie’s case with Consumer Watch. “I believe it is in 1Time’s senior management’s power to interrogate those on shift who were responsible for loading, as well as study surveillance cameras to ascertain any irregularity,” he said.
I sent an e-mail to 1Time Airline CEO Rodney James about the case early on the morning of December 28.
“Given that (Nathalie) did not intend to commit her bag, containing those vital items, to the hold, it appears to me, on her version, that 1Time, in the absence of issuing any warnings, or advising her to remove her valuables, bears some responsibility for her losses,” I wrote.
By that evening, a day and a half after Nathalie’s loss, I had his response.
James began by saying the airline was very sorry for Nathalie’s loss, took such incidents very seriously and was conducting an internal investigation into the incident, having interviewed all staff responsible for handling Lofo luggage, and contacted its third party baggage handlers, Swissport.
As to why Nathalie’s small case was taken from her, James said the flight in question was 96 percent full, which created “space limitations”.
“Our employee on duty – one of 1Time’s longest-serving and most dedicated employees at OR Tambo International Airport – verified that before he accepted the luggage, he asked her all the necessary questions pertaining to valuables. She then received her Lofo tag and boarded the aircraft.”
Nathalie vehemently denies being warned about her valuables.
James said Lofo baggage was accumulated at the aircraft door before being handed to Swissport for loading into the hold.
“An independent security guard, contracted by Swissport, oversees the process,” he said.
On arrival at Cape Town airport, Swissport again handled all Lofo baggage and delivered it to the aircraft door.
“As baggage pilfering is a major problem in South Africa, especially at OR Tambo, we will do all we can to eradicate this problem,” James said.
“We have therefore contracted an independent truth verification company to conduct polygraph tests on our own employees, the Swissport baggage handlers, and their security guard on duty.
“Taking into account that many of these employees and contractors are shift workers, the interviews will be conducted over several days.
“Once the interviews are completed, the findings will be sent to you, as well as Swissport’s response, as additional information.”
James said the airline had “visible signage” pertaining to valuable items at its check-in desks and its ground crew ask passengers whether any items of value are contained in the baggage they are checking in and carrying as hand luggage.
“As a follow-up, these questions are once again asked when a bag is taken away at the aircraft door due to either size restrictions or space limitations on board, before the passenger is presented with a Lofo tag.”
And now for the crux of the response: “We understand that the loss is significant to the passenger, but need to remind her that 1time’s terms and conditions at the time of booking clearly state that the airline will not accept liability for losses or damages to valuable items such as, but not limited to: cellular phones, jewellery, laptops or other computer equipment, electronic items, cash, credit cards, documents, spectacles, sunglasses and fragile or perishable items packed in baggage.
“These terms and conditions are based on international aviation standards.”
Bottom line – the airline is not accountable.
Sadly, there’s no proof of what was said or not said at that crucial moment when Nathalie was asked to hand over her case.
To my mind it is significant, though, that her Lofo tag carried no warning about the removal of valuables.
Why not, given the risk such a passenger is being forced to take, and given the fact that foreigners such as Nathalie may not know about the extent of baggage pilfering in this country, especially at OR Tambo?
I have not yet received the findings of that 1Time investigation, but I dare say they will make no difference to Nathalie.
A senior airline person told me about five years ago when I investigated a similar case involving another airline: “I think passengers should insist on taking their hand luggage on board if they weren’t told to check it in inside the terminal.
“And if it’s too big for the overhead lockers, they should remove their valuables first.”
I couldn’t agree more. I know my single carry-on case is not over-sized or overweight, so I march up to the plane carrying it with confidence, and I’m never asked to relinquish it.
If I was, I’d certainly remove my valuables first.
The trouble is, what to do with them then?
I don’t see the airlines providing plastic bags for this purpose.
Of course, it helps your chances of finding space in those overhead lockers if you get into that boarding queue early.
But whatever you do, don’t just hand over your carry-on at the plane entrance without first removing anything on that airline “valuables” list.
Yes, it’s a schlep, and it’s embarrassing to have to open it up in full view of other passengers, but do it anyway. - Pretoria News