Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Complaints of lost luggage from frustrated travelers arriving on Hawaiian Airlines flights from Honolulu, prompted a hearing of the Senate Transportation Committee last Wednesday, where representatives of the airlines testified regarding the issue.

Also testifying was Deputy Director of Port Administration, Tumua Matu’u.

Committee Chairman Malaepule Saite Moliga began by asking Acting Station Manager Sia Burgos, what the root of the problem was.

Burgos however clarified that the problem was not lost luggage but missing luggage or luggage taken by mistake by other passengers.

She explained that because luggage look the same, it is the travelers’ responsibility to put a conspicuous mark on their luggage so that they can easily identify it on the airport carousel.

She reiterated that it is the traveler’s responsibility, not the airline’s to check and make sure that the luggage they take off the carousel and take home, is actually their own.

Hawaiian Airlines official in charge of the World Tracer System, Lama Haretuku explained that once she receives a claim of lost luggage, she posts it on the Work Tracer System which monitors all US airlines, and tags and descriptions of the missing luggage will be traced back to the airline(s) the passenger traveled on.

She pointed out that even if a traveler checks his luggage all the way to Pago Pago from the initial point of departure on the connecting flight from the mainland to Honolulu on a different airline, sometimes unforeseen circumstances require an offload in the Hawaiian Airlines cargo to allow more passengers on the flight to Pago Pago.

Haretuku stated that the offloaded luggage and the luggage recovered using the World Tracer System are usually put on the next flight to Pago Pago.

She also pointed out that Hawaiian Airlines will not load any luggage or container that do not have any tags.

Senator Satele Aliitai Lili’o emphasized the importance of the issue to the health and well-being of those passengers with various health conditions who rely on their medication which is inside their missing luggage, reminding the airline officials of the emotional stress they will go through, not to mention the physical discomfort they will experience, because they cannot take their prescribed medication.

Satele said that to him, lost luggage includes luggage taken by mistake by other passengers and asked how lost luggage claims have been filed at the airline’s office at the airport.

Acting Station Manager Sia Burgos replied that they have received no claims for lost luggage only claims of missing luggage which are usually returned to their office by the passengers who to took them by mistake.

Burgos added that in some cases, luggage would be left on the carousel which their staff would then take to their office, and the following day, the owners would turn up to pick them up.

Some would say that they wanted to get home in a hurry, others would say they had to look for a ride home so they left knowing that their luggage would be looked after, she said.

Satele argued that Hawaiian Airlines should help to alleviate the problem by having one of their staff stationed at the door, to make sure the luggage tags match the passenger cargo list before the passengers exit.

He recalled that it was the procedure done in past years.

Haretuku agreed with Satele but stated that the procedure had inadvertently caused another problem when full flights arrived, resulting in long lines of passengers waiting to exit because of the time it was taking to check luggage tags.

She revealed that they checked only those passengers with only three or fewer pieces of luggage to try and speed up the process.

She said that they will raise the issue with their management who will decide whether to reinstate this procedure.

Senator Olo Uluao Letuli suggested that the Hawaiian Airlines flight crew should remind passengers before landing to take time to check and identify their luggage upon arrival to make sure they are not taking anyone else’s luggage by mistake.