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Report: Airlines Improving Baggage Handling/Passenger Bumps

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Airline passengers across the United States got a mixed bag of news from the latest government analysis of the airline industry.

On the good side, the major airlines set a record for the lowest rate of lost or mishandled baggage and the lowest rate of bumped passengers from overbooked flights, according to the Los Angeles Times.

On the bad side, the Transportation Department said it received more than 11,000 complaints about airlines' service, which was a 5.1 percent increase from 2010 and 30 percent higher than in 2009, according to the L.A. Times.

Overall, the government found 3.39 reports of mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers, according to the Times. That was the lowest rate of mishandled bags since the government began tracking the problem in 1988.

In addition, less than one passenger per 10,000 were bumped due to flights being overbooked, which was also an all-time record, according to the Times.

And airlines are even getting more creative in the ways they are trying to attract and keep passengers.

According to the Times, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines introduced a program this month that allows you to see the LinkedIn or Facebook profile of fellow passengers to determine who you want to sit beside.

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