Airport security makes certain you give them your shoes to sniff, but they haven't a clue what's happening to our bags.
USA Today reports that 10,000 bags a day were lost by airlines last year. That means over 30 million bags were mishandled by the airlines. About 240,000 never made it back to their owners at all. I can only assume this means either these bags were stolen or somehow never identified
Think about it. 30 plus million bags gone astray. We don't know where. We know someone has them. What are they doing with them? What could they be doing with them? One thing for sure -- if the airlines don't know where they are, and transportation security people don't know where they are, they can't possibly know whether they are secure or not. In the end, this means that 30 plus million bags a year are potentially insecure.
What about the 200,000 bags that don't get back to their owners? How many of these are as a result of theft? One thing the article did not address, and I had a hard time getting any statistics on, is pilferage of luggage, airline employees who steal personal belongings out of our luggage. So while we know that crooks are taking possessions out of luggage, I would like to know what they might be able to put into bags without anyone knowing. Doesn't that bother anyone?
How can we possibly feel safe if the airlines and TSA have no idea where 3.5 million bags are during the course of the travel year? How can Americans feel safe if thieves are able to get into baggage at airports around the country without any surveillance of any kind?
Don't even get me started on the huge amount of airline freight that sits below our seats that is not ever inspected.
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