Airline travel

I've been traveling for work this past week (luckily avoiding the East Coast storms). It was yet another reminder of the inability of airlines to get their act together. I had a cross country flight that consisted of 2 parts, the first on United and the 2nd on USAir. I had 2 bags, one managed to make the connection and the other did not. Now why this happened is a puzzle since there was 1.5 hours in between flights and the second flight was quite empty. Nevertheless, when I arrived and realized that the bag was missing, I spoke with USAir who assured me the bag would be on the next flight that night and would be delivered the next morning. The next morning came and went without the bag showing up. The local number USAir gave me to call only yielded voicemail -- all morning. What's the point of a number for lost bags at the airport if no one answers. I finally call the 1-800 number (which the paper says not to call until 24 hours had passed) and only to find that the bag had made it to the airport but was in United's hands, not USAir's. USAir still had to acquire the bag and deliver it. What?

I assume that United was at fault for not getting the bag to USAir at the connection, but USAir made it sound like they had the bag and would put it on the next flight. In fact, it seems that United became responsible for getting it to my final destination and then transferring it to USAir. I don't actually care who got the bag from place A to place B, but I care tremendously that the airlines seem unable to communicate with one another and then give me false information. USAir inaccurately told me that the bag would be on the next flight and get to me by the morning, when in fact United had the bag, would fly it to place B, and then give it to USAir who, upon receipt, could deliver it.

Even more important, given the restrictions on carrying liquids onto planes, many people are carrying more liquids in their bags. Some of these liquids -- shampoo, lotion, etc -- can be purchased in most locations. Others -- medicine, for example -- can't just be bought on location. Airlines thus have an even greater duty to get bags transferred ontime and, when they're lost, to communicate more clearly with each other and with customers.