Didn't I say this would happen? Didn't I? Yes I bleedin' did. We have less security now with our new "security" rules than when we left well enough alone. Stupid stupid stupid.
TSA Under Pressure To Stop Baggage Theft
For Agency, a New Airport Security Problem
When John Latta flew to Reagan National Airport from Miami last month, he discovered that a $1,000 pair of binoculars was 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 are difficult.
The spotlight on luggage thefts intensified after two baggage screeners were arrested in Miami this week. The TSA employees were charged with stealing things from checked baggage. A federal security screener in New York was arrested in March on charges of stealing thousands of dollars in cash from passengers while inspecting their belongings at an airport checkpoint. The rap star Lil' Kim reported June 20 that $250,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from her Louis Vuitton bag at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Her lawyer said the jewelry was found Friday in a locker room for airline employees at JFK, the Associated Press reported.