Chapter 25: Epilogue, Part Eight: "Your Item Is Located"
and is being sent to the delivery airport
15.10.2023 - 15.10.2023 80 °F
"...Told them that two weeks ago..."
Sunday, October 15, 2023
10:58pm, Saturday, October 14. We had just finished cleaning up the kitchen, putting leftovers into the refrigerator and loading the dishwasher when the iPhone announced an incoming text. One minute later, the iPhone announced an incoming email.
They found the damn thing. In Bangalore, right where we told them it was two weeks ago. WE TOLD THEM THAT TWO WEEKS AGO! WE GAVE THEM A DIGGIDY DARNED MAP TO WHERE IT WAS!
On Tuesday, October 3, twelve days ago, I wrote:
Kempegowda International Airport Devanahalli, Bengaluru, 560300, Karnataka, India.
That's Bangalore to the under informed, airport code BLR, a far cry from IAH (Houston, TX, USA),
That is what I just told the nice man from British Airways Baggage Service. I called him to let him know that my "Lost" baggage, containing an Apple AirTag, is no longer pinging from Heathrow in London. It now is telling me that it has made the journey to SouthCentral India.
He is skeptical. Then he sounds more bemused. Yes, he tells me, British Airways does service that airport. He will send a message to both his associates in Baggage Service at Heathrow and to the station manager in Bangalore.
Then, on October 5, ten days ago, I wrote:
I placed another telephone call to the crack BA Baggage Service Team.
That call was greeted by an irritated and aggravated BA employee who chastised me for calling them so many times. When I explained that I possessed information they did not possess, information that would be of assistance to them, he made it clear to me that he did not, the airline did not, the people in India did not, everyone involved did not wish to hear from me again.
Now, at last, we are told that TODAY, on Sunday, October 15, the bag will be aboard BA118 from Bangalore to Heathrow connecting to BA197, Heathrow to Houston, arriving in Houston at 6:50pm tonight. From the communications above, you can see that, "be assured you will be contacted when the baggage has actually arrived, and we have verified it is yours."
But, of course, there is another chapter yet to be written because from there, BA must deliver on their promise to deliver. They accepted all this information way back when. Now, of course, we all know that British Airways does not fly from Houston to Kansas City.
For those knowledgeable about airline partnerships, BA is partnered with American Airlines through something called oneworld® airline partners. American does not fly non-stop from Houston to Kansas City. If they stay with their partnership, the bag will have to connect--probably through Dallas but it could be somewhere else like Chicago or Charlotte.
United, a member of the Star Alliance™ airline partners, flies non-stop from IAH (Houston) to MCI (Kansas City). United and BA are not aligned, they are competitors just as American and United are competitors. Are they friendly about issues such as this or are they antagonistic?
I am wondering what sort of decisions happen at Houston when this bag--with no owner in sight to collect it--is welcomed by the BA team. Will the bag sit on the merry-go-round conveyor for endless revolutions? Will it remind us of an unaccompanied minor whose parent got tied up in traffic and isn't there to retrieve their kid?
Will they simply do the expedient thing and deliver it to United Airlines so it can fly non-stop to Kansas City? Who makes that decision and who pays the bill? Then, when it arrives in Kansas City, what will happen when there is no owner in sight to collect it? I understand that it is supposed to go to a delivery company that will put it in a vehicle and deliver it to the concierge at the Alameda Tower. One assumes it will hit the Kansas City baggage merry-go-round as well. Will that happen, I wonder. Will it go well when and if it does happen?
Will somebody steal it in Houston?
Will somebody steal it in Kansas City?
Did somebody in India already steal everything that was packed inside the bag?
Here, the plot, like gravy when flour is added, thickens. The sharp-eyed among you may have noticed that the email at the beginning of this post did not come from British Airways. It came from wtradmin@sita.aero. Who is that?
Sita offers airlines many services, among them are: "Bag Fast," "Bag Journey," "Bag Manager" and "Bag Message." Sita says there were "26 million mishandled bags in 2022, costing the ATI $2.6 billion" They are the solution to reducing that expense exposure. They will, their site says, "track the complete journey of the bag from check-in to delivery, helping ensure that you meet IATA Resolution 753 requirements. It keeps track of when bags change custody between airlines and ground handlers as well as airlines and airports. It also handles the tracking and monitoring of departure and arrival bags." Does Sita see to the bag when BA offloads it in Houston until a delivery driver drops it at the Alameda? I don't know.
I assume (and we all know the dangers of assuming), that Sita is now in charge.
Who knew a story such as this one could present so many twists and turns? With apologies to Gordon Lightfoot who, in 1969, wrote:
Just like a paperback novel
The kind the drugstore sells
When you reach the part where the heartaches come
The hero would be me
But heroes often fail
And you won't read that book again
Because the ending's just too hard to take
BREAKING NEWS:
This just in: as I write this optimistic tome, at 9:52am, Sita informs me via email that our bag missed its connection at London Heathrow.
Just like it did two weeks ago. Instead of being in Houston tonight aboard BA197, it won't be in Houston--best case scenario--until tomorrow, Monday, at 1:57pm aboard BA195.
Will it actually make it to Houston tomorrow at all? The last time this bag was at Heathrow it was mishandled and sent to India. This time maybe Beijing? Or Rio or Sydney or Nairobi?
Is that now much longer connection time in Houston (assuming it makes it to Houston) a good omen that the bag will actually make it to Kansas City tomorrow night? If so, on which airline and on which flight?
The ending--one believes--is imminent. Will it be too hard to take?
