TSA: Missing Luggage Totals $31 Million Over Three Years

26 Feb 2008

Federal records obtained by FOX 4 News show that in the past three years travelers have reported tens of millions of dollars in goods missing from their luggage.  It was there when they checked the bag at the airport, but gone when they reached their destination.

Luggage comes tumbling out of the carousel every time a flight arrives at Kansas City International Airport, but is your luggage among them? That's something Mike Hawley worries about.

"I always have that little voice in the back of my head that goes 'Is it going to make it with me?,'" Hawley said.

Hawley said he has worried about that ever since a flight from Nashville to Baltimore. He arrived, but his luggage didn't.

"My wife and I had all of our belongings for a three-day session there and our luggage never did show up," Hawley said.

His story was one of several we heard just hanging out by the luggage carousel at KCI. That's where we met Annette Willard.  She told us about her son's luggage.

"It never arrived," she said.

Until nine months later when an airline employee found it in Portland, Oregon.  When she finally got it back, she said much of what had been packed inside was missing, including Doc Martin shoes, Oakley sunglasses and some other high-end clothing.

It's a story we heard multiple times and for good reason. A rarely released Transportation Security Administration database reveals that in a three-year period nearly 42,000
travelers have reported items as lost from their luggage at an estimated value of more than $31 million.  We are not talking lost for a couple of days. We are talking lost for good. Listed as MIA are medicine, clothing, fine jewelry, laptops, perfume and even cell phones.

Since you can't find this TSA database on TSA's website, FOX 4 had to make a special request for it.

(Click here to see lost luggage reports from Missouri and Kansas airports and the raw data from airports all over the country.)

According to the database, the airports with the worst record for ripping people off include LAX, where more than 2,300 people complained they'd had items stolen from their luggage. Also at the top were Newark, Miami, JFK and Seattle.

Some of those airports are also among the busiest. But even when you break down the loss rate per passenger, they still rank at the top. Near the bottom of the list is Kansas City International Airport, which reported 160 claims during that same three-year period. So it's unlikely your luggage will get ripped off in Kansas City, but it's where your luggage is heading that could be the problem.

The TSA said it treats theft very seriously, but just because an item is reported as lost, doesn't mean it was stolen. TSA said some claims are dropped after the item has been found at home or in another piece of luggage. But many items are never found.  So who's taking the luggage?

It used to be that thieves hung out at airport carousels but with increased airport security that rarely happens anymore. Now experts believe stolen luggage is often an inside job. While some thefts have been tracked to TSA workers, others have been linked to baggage handlers employed by individual airlines.

A former KCI baggage handler, who asked us not to identify her, said she knows theft happens even in Kansas City.

"There was never anybody who said I did that," said the baggage handler. "But there was always talk. So and so found something in a bag. Shoes were one. Another one was perfumes, really expensive brands."

She said the best time for luggage to be tampered with is when it's in the baggage hold area. That's where it is stored before it's loaded onto the plane.

"You will have one person down there and all they are doing is transferring bags to different carts," said the former baggage handler. "It only takes one person. So you would just be in a room by yourself."

She said one way to get away with the crime was to rifle through a bag and then put it on the wrong plane headed to the wrong city.  When the luggage is finally located, it would be unclear where the crime took place.

Travel Agent Carol Rone has had first-hand experience with luggage theft. She lost a camera.
   
"It was a really nice 450 millimeter," recalled Rone. "It was worth about $450."
   
Rone said it was obvious it was stolen from her suitcase because the camera bag she had stored it in was still inside.

"It was left unzipped," said Rone of the camera bag. "It was surely done in a rush."

But good luck getting any money back if its your luggage that's missing. The back of every airline ticket says you will get no compensation for valuable items, which include laptops, jewelry and cameras.   Even when a stolen item is covered by the airline, getting reimbursed can be a hassle.

"You have to list everything and mark the value," said Rone. "It's quite an ordeal to make a claim. That's why so many clients have told me they don't even bother with it because of all the paperwork you do."

So what can you do to protect yourself? Rone suggested something as simple as putting luggage straps around your bag. Just having to remove them can be a deterrent to a thief.

Our former baggage handler warned people not to travel with nice luggage.

"You do notice when its newer and nice and the name brand and when you have matching luggage," she said.

The good news is that despite the thousands of complaints TSA has received, the vast majority of travelers never have a problem. Carl Bauer flies every other week and has never had anything stolen from his luggage. However, the day we met Bauer at KCI he had just flown in from Chicago and couldn't find his luggage on the carousel.

"I'm sure someone just picked up my bag and headed home and their bag is still here," said Bauer.

Bauer said he's not sweating it. He said he rarely packs anything that can't be replaced.

Linda Wagar, FOX 4 News