Airlines: Safety Solutions May Be In The Bag

Monday, March 1, 2004

Airlines: Safety Solutions May Be In The Bag (NAPSA)—Experts have mapped out a numberof ways to makeair travel even safer—andto take away someof the hassle associated with higher security. For instance, Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act in 2002. The act called for investing billions to train security agents and to buy metal- and bomb-detecting equipment for passengers and bags at airport checkpoints. In addition, the act authorized a security fee of up to $10 per round-trip passen- ger. The fees are meant to help cover baggage-screeningcosts. Experts say, however, that while the TSA and other acts have helped enhance safety, they’ve donelittle to actually solve a major security issue faced by airlines: the number of bags being transported. The Problem Screening bags is an expensive and time-consuming process. Currently, the airline industry transports about one and a half billion bags per year—nearly double the amount of passengers whofly annually. Airline experts say encouraging passengers to travel with less baggage could not only make flying safer, but that it could make the entire traveling process faster. each piece of luggage. Rather than having to take baggage through check-in points and security lines, the plan would give passengers a number of choices that could cut airport waiting time and make flying safer. Cutting Costs It’s also believed that the proposal would actually help drive downthecost of shipping bags. As more travelers ship bags, the theory holds, their collective bargainA new proposal for handling lug- gage could makeflying even safer. New Solutions One proposedsolution is to have government and airlines provide travelers with economical alternatives to checking their bags. For instance, what’s being called the Universal Express (USXP) plan would let travelers ship their luggage before their departure date using the United States Postal Service or parcel carriers (UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.). Such carriers transport about five billion packages annually. The plan wouldstill let passengers check their bags on airplanes if they choose, but would assign a per-bag security fee to ing power over parcel carriers would increase. That could lead to lowerprices. The company, Universal Express, Inc. led by Mr. Richard Altomare, includes Luggage Express and Virtual Bellhop. The businesses pick up luggage at a traveler’s home and drop it off at his or her destination. A final bonus to the proposed baggage plan: It could mean the end of lost luggage. Shipping services generally provide enhanced baggage-tracking technology. That means travelers can keep track of just where in the world their bags are, at almost any given moment. For more information, visit www.usxp.com.