Federal airport security draws criticism on luggage

By Sara Kehaulani Goo ~ The Washington Post

WASHINGTON -- When John Latta flew to Reagan National Airport from Miami last month, he discovered that a $1,000 pair of binoculars were missing from his checked luggage.

"What can I do?" he asked an airline agent who took a report. Her answer, Latta said, was: "Nothing. Zero."

Latta's complaint is one of more than 6,700 that travelers have lodged in the six months since the federal government began advising passengers to leave their checked luggage unlocked for inspection. Most of the complaints concerned damaged or stolen items, but the figure also includes some claims of lost luggage, according to the Transportation Security Administration, which compiles the numbers.

The airlines do not provide data on stolen and damaged items in their reporting of complaints, most of which concern lost baggage. So comparisons with previous years is difficult.

The spotlight on luggage thefts intensified after two baggage screeners were arrested in Miami. The TSA employees were charged with stealing things from checked baggage. A federal security screener in New York was arrested in March for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars in cash from passengers while inspecting their belongings at an airport checkpoint. The rap star Lil' Kim claimed last week that $250,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from her Louis Vuitton bag at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"There is just no guarantee that your luggage is secure anymore," said Paul Hudson, executive director of the nonprofit Aviation Consumer Action Project.

Small fraction of travelers

The TSA said the complaints it received in the past six months came from only a tiny fraction of the passengers who traveled during that time. "It's highly unlikely that your bag will suffer any damage or any loss from the TSA side of the ledger, as it makes its way through the system," TSA spokesman Robert Johnson said. "We have zero-tolerance policy when it comes to malfeasance of anyone working for TSA. It's important for people to have confidence in the system as we build a robust system for responding to claims and we'll be better at responding to these claims."

Travelers and members of Congress have expressed concern about people working in airport security who have criminal records. Hiring thousands of federal security workers after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was intended to inspire the confidence of travelers. But this month the TSA admitted that it has yet to complete background checks on 22,000 of its screeners. The agency has fired 85 felons who had been hired.

The TSA declined on privacy grounds to say whether background checks had been made on the two Miami screeners. The agency said budget problems have delayed installation of video cameras in airports to keep an eye on security workers.

"This security system is not finished," Johnson said. "A lot of work still needs to be done."

At some airports, passengers are present when security personnel scan their luggage as it passes through screening machines. At other airports, airline personnel send the bags on a conveyor belt for inspection beyond the sight of passengers. At smaller airports, bags are often opened and swiped with a cotton swab treated to detect explosives.

TSA's recommendation that passengers not lock their luggage came at the beginning of the year, when the agency was required by Congress to screen all luggage for explosives.

The TSA said it would use plastic zip ties to reseal inspected luggage and would put notices inside bags, with toll-free TSA telephone numbers, so passengers would know when a screening had occurred.

But passengers say implementation of those measures is spotty. Doug Stagnaro was traveling from National Airport last month with $2,000 in scuba equipment inside his luggage. He said he made a point of asking the airline agent to reseal his bag with zip ties after screening. But, Stagnaro said, the agent didn't seem to know what he was talking about and referred him to a TSA agent, who found the ties after rummaging around for a few minutes.

"You're at the liberty of the TSA," Stagnaro said.

Even before the federal government took over, airports were a thieves' playground. An FBI sting in 1994 at National Airport resulted in the arrest of eight baggage handlers who were caught on videotape stealing cameras and other valuables from luggage while it was being sorted onto planes. Similar theft rings have been found at airports in Los Angeles, New York and Miami.

"It was always very, very difficult" to catch thieves at airports, said Douglas Laird, an aviation security consultant and former official at Northwest Airlines. When a bag disappears behind the plastic curtain at the ticket counter, it enters a maze of conveyor belts and passes through many hands, Laird said.

"Many times theft occurs in the belly of the airplane with the baggage handler inside the plane, and it's impossible to see what they're doing," Laird said. "The same is true with TSA."

Until the TSA began screening luggage, the airlines bore sole responsibility for baggage. The airlines reported 1.8 million incidents of "mishandled" bags last year, or 3.8 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. Those numbers mostly involved lost or delayed luggage.

The TSA said that of 6,700 complaints it received through June 22 -- most about stolen items or damaged luggage -- it has settled 485 and paid passengers a total of $38,785.83. Travelers withdrew 47 claims, and 145 claims were denied on the grounds that no negligence was found.

Most of the complaints remain unresolved while the agency and the airlines negotiate who is liable for compensating passengers. The two sides are also working out how to determine false claims.