4 April 2006
Hundreds of airline passengers disappear annually
Many reappear near Afghan-Pakistani border
 GENEVA -- Some 280,000 air travel passengers will go missing this year
according to the International Air Travel Federation (IATF).
The Geneva-based company, which tracks the departure and arrival of
passengers in over 225 countries, said that while almost every
passenger does eventually reach his destination within a week of
departure, a few are never to be seen again.
In a telephone interview with
Travel Fox, Mr. Reinholt Hastedder, IATF executive director, said, "Only
a tiny number of passengers—usually
fewer than 2000—disappear
for good. This number is so small when compared to the four billion
passengers who travel each year as to be inconsequential to the air
travel industry."
Nevertheless, the air travel
industry spends nearly US$16.5 billion a year trying to determine the
whereabouts of missing passengers and compensating families for their
lost loved ones.
Ms. Gretchen Wolpastel, a spokesperson for IATF told Travel Fox, "While
the rapid growth in air travel—about six percent a year—is encouraging,
we in the industry are putting in place policies and procedures to
better manage our customer flow. These should help us to identify holes
in our passenger throughput stream and help us to plug those leaks. As
an example, we have already discovered that passengers reported as having gone missing
from Abilene Regional Airport—a location that accounted for an unusually
number of disappearances last year—are often found near the Afghan-Pakistani
border. We believe we know the reason behind this and are working with
the State Department to
resolve that problem."
Another one of those "holes" was recently discovered at Norman Y. Mineta San José International
Airport where an average of 25 passengers per year vanish after entering
Terminal B. Law enforcement authorities in San Jose investigating these
disappearances are baffled.
At a recent press conference at the airport, Lt. Aaron Rafterson, said,
"As best as we can tell, these missing passengers have simply
disappeared into thin air."
The IATF is expected to issue a thorough report on passenger
disappearances and the steps being taken by industry members to resolve
the issue at its annual convention this fall in Oslo.
Related Travel Fox scoops:
Related Err Travel columns:
Space invaders
- Defend your personal space
Save me a seat
- Seat-saver tactics
Cabin theiver
- Protect yourself from in-flight rustlers
© 2006 Applied Psychology
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