One reason it's so annoying to get your baggage at the end of a flight is that each passenger has no idea as to when his or her bag will appear on the baggage carousel. This leads to several problems: (1) EVERYONE crowds around the carousel at the same time, whether or not their bag is anywhere close to being offloaded; (2)this leads to considerable nudging, pushing, and shoving; (3) this makes it stressful to wait for one's bag - moreso because one has no idea how long one will have to wait.

Here's an idea that could alleviate these problems in a cheap, easy way.

When passengers check in their bags, the airline should assign to them a number, say from 1 to 4. The airline will have divided the baggage compartment in the plane into sections - in this case, sections 1 to 4. A passenger's bags would then be placed in the corresponding section of the baggage compartment. Then, after the plane has arrived at its destination, the baggage would be unloaded one section at a time. The airline would alert the passengers waiting in the baggage claim area as to which section is being unloaded at any given moment.

Result? Each passenger now knows his baggage section number and knows whether his baggage is among those being unloaded at that moment. That's some peace of mind right there (e.g., so you can be slightly more accurate when you tell friends who are arriving to pick you up how much time it will take to get your bags).

Additionally, those passengers who have bags in a section that is not presently being unloaded will have no reason to linger around the carousel. They will generally step aside. With the area around the carousel less crowded, people will be able to take their bags off the belt with less jostling and nudging. People will also be able to find their bags more quickly. Generally, this should allow the process to move more smoothly.

Of course there will still be waiting for everyone, to greater or lesser extents, which means that checking your bags will still be a pain. But this simple idea makes the whole process more efficient and a whole lot easier for everyone

What do you think of this idea or comment?
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