With mishandled baggage remaining a persistent issue for most travellers, air transport association IATA says the aviation industry is making fair strides in reducing baggage mishandling, with a 60 pc reduction between 2007 and 2022. With an increasing number for airlines adopting Resolution 753, IATA says this number is projected to go further down.

The global rate of mishandled bags in 2022 was 7.6 per 1,000 passengers, says a report by travel technology firm SITA. The majority of these were returned within 48 hours. This number is a sharp drop from the situation in 2007, says a report by global aviation body International Air Transport Association (IATA) that has recently released a global progress report on the implementation of baggage tracking.

In a press statement, IATA says that a survey of 155 airlines and 94 airports reveals that 44 pc of airlines have fully implemented Resolution 753 and a further 41 pc are in progress.

The statement adds that IATA Resolution 753 is focussed on requiring tracking baggage at acceptance, loading, transfer and arrival. It was adopted by June in 2018 and in 2024, IATA launched a campaign to assist airlines with the implementation.

According to IATA, regional variation in airline full adoption rates vary from 88 pc in China and North Asia, to 60 pc in the Americas, 40 pc in Europe and Asia-Pacific and 27 pc in Africa.

“Between 2007 and 2022 baggage mishandling reduced by nearly 60 pc. That is good news. But travellers expect better, and the industry is determined to make further improvements. Tracking bags at acceptance, loading, transfer and delivery will give the industry the data it needs to improve. Tracking reduces overall mishandlings and helps airlines reunite mishandled bags with their owners even faster. With 44 pc of airlines already fully implementing Resolution 753 tracking and a further 41 pc in progress, travellers can have even more confidence that their bags will be at the carousel on arrival,” says Monika Mejstrikova, IATA Director Ground Operations.

Nearly 75 pc of airports surveyed have the capability for Resolution 753 baggage tracking, the statement says.

IATA adds that airport preparedness for Resolution 753 varies by size as well, 75 pc of mega airports are capable, 85 pc of major airports, 82 pc of large airports and 61 pc of medium airports.

The statement adds that optical barcode scanning is the dominant tracking technology implemented by the majority of airports, or 73 pc surveyed. Tracking using RFID, which is more efficient, is implemented in 27 pc of surveyed airports.

Notably, RFID technology has seen higher adoption rates at mega airports, with 54 pc already implementing this advanced tracking system, IATA says.

According to IATA, accelerating modern baggage messaging Resolution 753 requires airlines to exchange baggage tracking messages with interline partners and their agents.

The current baggage messaging infrastructure depends on legacy technologies using costly Type B messaging. This high cost adversely affects the implementation of Resolution 753 and contributes to issues with message quality, leading to an increase in baggage mishandling.

IATA says it is leading the industry’s transition from Type B to modern baggage messaging based on XML standards. The first pilot to test modern baggage messaging between airport and airlines is planned for launch in 2024.

“Adopting modern messaging is the equivalent of implementing a new standard, intelligible language for use by airlines, airports, and ground handling staff so they can effectively communicate about passenger luggage. In addition to helping reduce the number of mishandled bags implementation also sets the stage for ongoing innovations in baggage management systems,” adds Mejstrikova.