Airlines

Thankfully, I have a job that does not require me to travel very much. I am not much a fan of flying and have had, on a couple of occasions, truly awful flights. For example, Continental lost my bag on the way to a conference in Jersey. I got it back at three AM on the morning of my first 8 AM meeting. As much as that sucked, it was merely a warm up for my return flight. In that marvelous experience, I was stuck on the Newark tarmac in August for almost four hours with a full passenger compliment and no air conditioning - awesome. That happened about 10 years ago, when, unlike today, an airline holding its passengers hostage was uncommon. In short, most airline service has been dreadful for a while and it is only going to get worse.

More than 1 million pieces of luggage were lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered by U.S. airlines from May to July, according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. June and July ranked among the 20 worst months for mishandled baggage in 20 years.

The shoddy service is the crest of five years of steady deterioration in the ability of major airlines to deliver a checked bag. In 2002, 3.84 reports of mishandled bags were filed per 1,000 passengers. In July, the figure was 7.93.

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Analysts say the industry's problems are not likely to be resolved soon, setting the stage for more aggravations, especially during the holiday travel season.

Time to pack light and carry-on. Merry Christmas, y’all.