But Employee Claims 'It Happens Every Day'
The Transportation Safety Administration processes thousands of
claims filed each year by airline passengers whose personal items
have come up missing from their checked baggage. Despite the
overwhelming statistics, at least one airline denies the scope of
the problem.
A Continental Airlines employee who works at Houston's George
Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) recently spoke with Houston's
ABC News affiliate KTRK. Speaking on the condition of anonymity,
she said the practice of baggage handlers pilfering items from
checked bags is not uncommon.
"It happens every day. It's very often that we may run across
Continental guys going through their [passengers'] luggage," she
said. "They run everything tightly up at the top, but poorly at the
bottom. If I was to fly a flight with Continental, those are the
things that I will be thinking about."
When questioned by ABC News about the employee's allegations,
Continental provided a statement that refuted her assertions:
"Thefts from baggage are extremely rare. We have active security
operations at airports including IAH. We assist law enforcement
agencies in investigating and prosecuting theft cases when they
arise."
Arrests of airline baggage handlers who steal from passengers'
luggage have been making headlines with alarming frequency.
As ANN reported, just last month St. Louis
Police busted eight contract baggage handlers for Delta Air Lines
who stole 900 items from checked bags at Lambert-St. Louis
International Airport (STL) over the past year. "They were stashing
stuff and then when they left were carrying it out in their coats
or fanny packs or backpacks," Lambert Police Chief Paul Mason
said.
Last October, a sting operation conducted by the Los Angeles
Police Department at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
resulted in the arrest of two baggage handlers
and the recovery of 272 stolen items and over $10,000 in
cash. And the month before, six people were busted for
stealing a total of over a half-million dollars in gold and
jewelry from a Manhattan jeweler's luggage at San
Francisco International Airport (SFO). Unfortunately, the list goes
on and on.
A disquieting
viral video posted on YouTube illustrates just how
vulnerable some types of zippered luggage are to those who might be
tempted to steal. While not all zippers are created equal, some can
be opened and refastened quickly and easily, leaving little or no
trace of having been compromised.
The TSA recommends that travelers refrain from packing basically
anything of value -- such as jewelry, cash, laptop computers,
electronics, or fragile items -- in checked baggage, even if it is
locked.