The Air Transport Users Council (AUC) calling themselves “the UK’s consumer watchdog for the aviation industry” published a table on the baggage handling performance of the member airlines of the Association of European Airlines (AEA) for 2007.According to the airlines’ own data, an average of 16.6 bags per thousand passengers were delayed on flights operated by the major European network airlines in 2007. This compares to 15.7 bags per thousand passengers for 2006. It is notable that those AEA airlines that tend to operate connecting flights through “hub” airports come out worst. For example, Air France, KLM and British Airways all take up places in the top five poorest performers for 2007. This is borne out by industry research, which, according to the AEA, shows that 61% of baggage incidences are related to connecting passengers.Source: Air Transport Users Council Press Notice (including table).