The worst airline baggage handlers have been named and shamed in a report from the AUC.

British Airways (BA), KLM, and Air France have all appeared among the top five worst baggage handling operators, losing on average around 21 bags per 1,000 passengers in 2007.

The Delayed Baggage Table for 2007 was compiled by the Air Transport Users Council (AUC), the consumer watchdog for the travel industry, and revealed that 61% of all baggage incidences are related to connecting passengers – which could explain why these major three airlines appear in the top five as they all operate connecting flights through hub airports.

BA defended its number two position in the league table – coming in only behind TAP Air Portugal as the worst baggage handler – and cited Heathrow Airport’s “stretched infrastructure” as among the reasons for its poor performance.

However, BAA, which owns Heathrow, responded that its baggage handling facility was very resilient and not capacity constrained. A spokesperson for the company commented: “Our systems are reliable and we have contingencies in place to mitigate the effect of any problems, should they occur.”

Gareth Kirkwood, BA’s Director of Operations, gave other possible reasons for its poor performance. He explained: “The record level of bags in the summer combined with the wettest UK June and July on record and a ‘critical’ level of security following the bomb attack at Glasgow airport led to a range of operational difficulties which also impacted on our baggage performance during the busiest months of the year.”

However, the AUC commented that, “whatever the extenuating circumstances, when passengers hand their bag in at check-in they should expect to see their bag at the other end.”

The league table was compiled using voluntarily submitted data from airlines belonging to the Association of European Airlines. Virgin Atlantic, Aer Lingus, JAT Airways and Olympic Airlines did not submit data for 2007.

In an effort to improve the baggage handling service that passengers experience, BAA, in conjunction with Emirates airline, has launched a trial of RFID technology to track passengers’ bags. For more details on the trial, click here to read ICM’s news article.