Actions always speak louder than words! BA should stop whining and invest to clean up their own act to improve operational performance. As for Heathrow, it will continue to be the airport of last choice until BAA takes real action, visible to passengers, instead of making excuses in press releases and HM Government adopts the same carry-on rules as the rest of the civilized world.

JB, Seattle, USA

None of this is any surprise. BA has lied and cheated its way through business for many years, smeared its competitors and detractors and treated its passengers with contempt.

BA lost my bags coming back from a business trip to India a few years ago. When I expressed outrage they just laughed at me and told me "that's what your insurance is for. Next...."

Maurice, London, UK

BA are a national disgrace and should be brought to account. My wife and I spent four weeks in the USA June/July. Only two aspects of the holiday were unsatisfactory: the journey to Seattle when BA lost my wife's luggage; and the journey back to Edinburgh when the shambles of a security scare, BA and BAA required us to hire a car and drive to home from Heathrow after 32 hours withour sleep! It's now two months and BA has still not found our baggage and a month since both the Chief Executive and the Customer Services Manage have not responded to recorded delivery letters and claims.

T David Pattison, Edinburgh, UK

Poor BA, they sure are getting a bashing at the moment! The baggage issue will continue for all airlines until they start investing in available high tech systems that I believe would cost around US$0.05 per passenger, per bag. The airport operator would also have to contribute but it seems that neither airline or airport operator are willing to move forward on such a project.
It reminds me of ticket fraud, credit card fraud and so forth. Solutions are and have been available but for whatever reason nobody wants to make the initial investment or perhaps remove control and give it to the consumer.
As for Passenger security, well here again a minor change in procedures and investment in high tech equipment would speed up throughput and allow the airlines to do what they best that is moving people from A to B.
A change in flight control systems could resolve more than half the current flight delays and save millions of gallons of fuel but nobody, it seems, wants to make the investment.

Melvyn Simson, Sipson, Middlesex, UK

What a sad and pathetic outfit BA is!

Truly in line with our national behaviour and helping us to become the laughing stock of the world !

Dudley Wood, Wilby , England

I never fly BA if I can avoid it. BA is appalling in every respect and I have now had so many bad experiences that I would rather pay more to travel with a different airline. Even the staff have been totally demoralised (you can see this in their customer service attitude) and who can blame them having to put up with the idiots in charge! And what is with those dish-cloth uniforms - awful, awful, awful. Just look at Singapore airlines, miles ahead in every respect.

TB, Staffs,

At least BA play the game - Virgin presumably have an equally bad record and choose to bury the information, rather than declare it to the AEA

Neil Marshall, Cambridge, UK

Sinclair, it is very likely the case that the poor baggage numbers are directly attributable to BAA who handle BA's bags at Heathrow. BA actually has little influence over the poor service provided by the BAA as a monopoly supplier.

Ken Liddell, Ampthill, England

This is yet another reason to avoid both Heathrow and BA. I say this with the benefit of hindsight.

Andrew Evans, Raymond, USA, Maine

Unfortunately many people have had poor experieneces as a result of low-quality yet unavoidable baggage handling partnerships, which plague all airlines. Despite the opinions of some members of the air travelling public, all airlines suffer from the same problems, and the narrow-minded and inexcusable scape-goating of one airline, time after time, is neither productive nor a true representation of the domestic or global airline industry as a whole.

Thomas Smith, Windsor, Berkshire, England

I flew BA to Dubai in February. I arrived on the 12th. My bag turned up on the 16th -- by which time I was in Abu Dhabi. And they could not possibly have cared less. They knew where the bag was before we landed -- they were actually able to tell me just as we started our descent that my bag had not accompanied me -- but they still couldn't get it to me and their lack of concern, then or at any subsequent point, was stunning. It was my problem, it wasn't theirs and they didn't give a stuff. It was not the first time BA had done this to me -- but it was the last. They have joined Korean, Saudi and a small handful of others on my personal list of AIRLINES I WILL NOT FLY.

(Go Emirates to Dubai. Go Etihad to Abu Dhabi. Go Qatar to Doha. If you're an habitual BA-er, you'll be astounded by how good air travel can be with an airline that takes care of its passengers).

John Lynch, Whittington, UK

Over the past 14 months I have traveled 3 times with BA from mexico to the netherlands for 2 week visits. On al three occasions BA managed to lose my suitcase. At least the first time they had the decency to offer me some compensation (I think 100 US) but the next times they just shoved some toiletries in my hands...

Simon Schaap, Queretaro, Mexico

And BA have the cheek to accuse the BAA of poor service! There is now no integrity within BA and no leadership to put things right.

Sinclair Stevenson, Bucharest, Romania

Money is the motivation here and not service. Remember, they made better then expected profits. They will action if their profits suffer!

Rob, Brum, UK

"bagage handlers loose 1/36 bags"?

Easy ...these guys are Union Members, and couldn't care less.

Tony J, Swanage, UK

It is reported elsewhere today that BA sell our luggage at an auction house in London.

Why are they allowed to continue trading?

Why have the Directors and senior managers of BA not yet been arrested for fraud, deception and theft?

Bob Brown, Irvine, USA, CA

Well, if BA was motivated to cover up the facts because of a "concern for its reputation," then it didn't need to bother: among regular business travelers, BA's reputation is already shot. Not too many of us will be surprised that BA finished at the bottom of the league tables in terms of delays and lost luggage. In fact, 1/3 of flights delayed and 1 of 36 bags lost seem a bit rosy compared to my personal experiences with BA.

H Juneja, London, England

BA's baggage losses are appalling. How can you "loose" 1 in 36 ?
I suggest the problem is the baggage handlers are too busy thieving to do the job properly and that BA chooses to do nothing about it ? Let's face it, there is little incentive for BA to do so, the compensation for "lost" baggage is pitiful and the true cost falls on passengers and insurers rather than BA.

jasper, chelmsford,

BA lost my bag on the way to Dubai last summer and the number given to me at Dubai airport they did not answer for days and when I finally got through the gentlemen informed me that they where so busy trying to sort out their baggage mess that they had stopped answering the phone. I dont use this airline any more - Etihad and Emirates much better - their movie systems work - and they go to Manchester and Birmingham which avoids the Heathrow problem.

Sean Reid, Dubai, UAE

We are Brits residing in South Africa and have recently returned from a holiday to the UK and Egypt flying Business Class with B A. We spent 8 days in the UK and then on 2nd July 07 we flew to Egypt for a 5 day Nile Cruise and 3 days in Cairo. Our 3 suitcases went missing on transfer through Heathrow and we eventually received 2 cases in Cairo on the 8th July 07 only 24hrs before we flew back to Johannesburg.We spent 5 days in 40 degrees C dressed in our travel clothes and "Egypt" t.shirts with limited toiletries, there being no availability to purchase any decent clothes on route. This spoilt our holiday, of course, as most of our time was spent trying to trace our bags.Our tour agents could not contact London; either getting an engaged tone or a message saying BA had a backlog and to call back later. Our final case arrived in Johannesburg 14 days late.We regularly fly to the UK and of the last 4 flights with BA our baggage has been delayed on 3 occasions.

Ann Goodman, Johannesburg, South Africa

We are a family of four who travelled from the caribbean, where we live to Sweden where we have relatives for our much earned vacation.

We travelled with BA.

Our eight peices of luggage never showed up. Five weeks later we have spent literally hours on the phone to BA in London, Ba's agents in Denmark, Sweden and now Milan in Italy, trying to trace our lost luggage. We don't speak Italian and their English is not much better.

When asked if they could contact the various luggage agents due to the language barriers, we were advised that if we wanted our luggage back we must deal with these agents ourselves since BA are too busy!

With an attitude like that they deserve to be shamed.

Helen williamson, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands