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MANAGING AIRPORTS TODAY 40 airportbusiness June/July 2015 But new innovations in technology and processes are making mis- handled luggage less likely, and airlines' books look better as a result. Over the last seven years, airlines and airports have lost 61.3 percent fewer bags and saved $18 billion as a result, says a new Baggage Report from aviation information technology firm, SITA. Out of every 1,000 passengers, only 7.3 bags were mishandled last year. That's despite a significant increase in passenger enplanements of 33.3 percent from 2007, with 3.3 billion of us getting on a plane during 2014. SITA's CEO Francesco Violante attributes improvements in baggage handling technology and new baggage processing systems for these improvements. "The investment the industry has made in baggage systems automation and processes have made a huge difference to the reliability and speed of baggage delivery, in particular for bags transfer- ring from one flight to another," he says. "For instance, SITA's community baggage systems processes more than 2.5 billion messages annually, helping ensure that bag and passenger travel on the same flight." But Violante also cautions the industry that adoption of more automation and better baggage tracking are essential to maintain this good perfor- mance. "Given the success already in bringing down the mishandling SITA Baggage Report Out of every 1,000 passengers, only 7.3 bags were mishandled last year. That's despite a significant increase in passenger enplanments of 33.3 percent from 2007, with 3.3 billion of us getting on a plane during 2014. L ost luggage is a nuisance for passengers and expensive to airlines. By Ronnie L. Garrett