Former American Airlines CEO shares his number one flying hack
The former American Airlines CEO Doug Parker has revealed his one best-kept flying hack.
“There are no silver bullets. I can tell you what I tell my family,” Parker, 63, said on the December 18 episode of Airlines Confidential podcast. “Do not check a bag.
“Wherever we’re going, you can buy stuff when you get there,” he continued. “It’s not that the airlines don’t know how to get there, but it’s incredibly complex, and it makes your experience much more difficult.
“That’s my major tip to anybody. Just figure out a way, no matter where you’re going, to get it into your carry-ons, and don’t check a bag.”
Parker, who served as the airline’s chief executive from 2001 to 2023 and continues to act as the chairman of American Airlines Group, then said: “A better tip is just be nice to the people that are out there working.
“It’s not just pablum. While it’s hard for the traveler, that makes it harder on the people that are out there,” he noted.
Parker’s checked bag tip comes after the 2024 SITA Baggage IT Insights report recorded a 10 percent increase in mishandled bags in 2023. Out of all the mishandled luggage that same year, 77 percent were delayed and 18 percent were either damaged or tampered with.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, airlines lose an estimated 2 million bags a year. All the luggage that isn’t successfully returned to its owners is then sent to a warehouse in Scottsboro, Alabama, known as Unclaimed Baggage.
Founded in 1970, Unclaimed Baggage takes in the 0.03 percent of checked bags that have been deemed as “orphans” after a three-month owner search has been conducted by the airline and the traveler’s been paid the appropriate amount for their loss.
Inside Unclaimed Baggage, items are organized in categories similar to how any discount or retail store would display its merchandise. Clothing, shoes, and electronics are all laid out in separate sections.
That said, the warehouse will only sell about a third of its lost item intake. Most inventory is either donated or recycled.
“We stock approximately 7,000 unique, heavily discounted items each day in our retail store, and thousands more online, where they are discovered and “reclaimed” by new owners, the Unclaimed Baggage website states. “On average, for every item sold, we donate an additional item to someone in need.
“Unclaimed Baggage has purchasing agreements for unclaimed items with all domestic airlines and other travel and transportation companies.”
