Back in the 90′s, they used to have an individuals at the exits of baggage claim checking claim tags against the tags on the bags. These people have been eliminated.

Instead of continuing to run natural gas powered shuttle buses between the airport and METRO’s Airport station (called “44th Street and Washington”), they decided to spend $ 1 billion dollars to run light rail. This $ 1 Billion dollars are from airport fees.

They are projecting that 20,000 passengers will use this rail link daily. The airport has 100,000 passengers a day (arriving and departing…passengers that are making connections through PHX are counted twice…arriving and departing). The City isn’t planning to charge any money to ride the rail link.

It is very hard to believe that 30% to 50% of the daily passengers will use this rail link to connect to the City of Phoenix’s light rail system given the ridership of the light rail system. Given the capacity of a rail car and the fact that travelers arrives in bunches (not a evenly flow throughout the day), there will be long waits for rides.

The bottom line is that the airport has the money but elected to spend it on a $ 1 billion rail link that will carry very few passengers instead of spending money to have security in the baggage claim areas.

Overall, the security (non-TSA) at the PHX is very poor. I have seen individuals parked their vehicles at the pickup area at Terminal 4; walked into baggage claim and be gone for more than 20 minutes. What will prevent a terrorist filling a car full of explosives and parking it at the arrival area? I have made movies and taken pictures in case if something happens.

Also, there are four (4) lanes of road for the pickup area at Terminal 4 and it is common that two of the lanes are full of parked cars. I have been to several airports where the airport police are out there blowing whistles, directing traffic, writing tickets for parked vehicles and towing vehicles. Two times, I asked the police officers about asking the drivers of these parked cars to move them and they said that it was too hot to work and I could do it for them.

The bottom line is that the City of Phoenix was responsibilbe for this situation.

You proved my point. Because your bag was “brilliantly yellow – brighter than a school bus yellow” you were able to identify when the bag was taken off the carousel and retrieve it.

I am skeptical that the man was attempting to steal it. Common sense would have dictated that he go for a less obvious bag, say any one of the plethora of black roller bags.. I suspect that he was not happy because that meant that his bag was lost.

The obvious way is to make your bag easily identifiable. That way as soon as it comes down (or up) the chute, you see it. Then you don’t have to worry about someone taking it because its never out of your site. I try to avoid purchasing black bags whenever possible.

That obviates the need for tracking systems, security guards and other expensive systems which will only drive up the cost of my $39 ticket

Is it possible for luggage to still be stolen from baggage claim. Yes. But its so unlikely, that it makes no sense to engage in these exotic remedies for a non-existent problem.

A GPS device would be even better, but this Luggage Locator gizmo already exists: http://www.etatravelgear.com/index.php?p=152&i=6798. I wonder if anyone has tried it – before I spend money for it or give someone a heart attack if it really does work!

Maybe some enterprising company should develop a GPS locator beacon that you could include in your luggage, perhaps cleverly disguised as a can of shaving cream or something like that. Then when your bag turns up missing at the baggage claim you could turn it on by remote control to get the coordinates of where it is. Guess it would be kind of pricey but maybe worth it for those travelers carrying valuables in their suitcase. Of course you would have to get it through security when you first check you bag.

I think the idea of having a person posted at each exit from the baggage claim area is an excellent one. I certainly wouldn’t mind waiting an extra five minutes to have my baggage claim ticket compared to my luggage when leaving. If we are all paying (in one way or another) to check our baggage, airlines should make every effort to make sure that we are rightfully reunited with it in one piece.

I believe that when companies don’t behave in the best interest of consumers, it’s time for the government to step in. That’s what’s happening now. Time to change the rules, Uncle Sam.

In the mean time, we can vote with our wallets. Fly airlines that don’t charge baggage fees, and when you do, drop a note to your favorite airline’s customer service department saying “I flew Air NoFee rather than your airline because they don’t charge baggage fees. That’s $260 in lost revenue.” If the numbers start to add up, maybe they’ll see the writing on the wall.

And if they’re going to charge a baggage fee, for goodness sake, at least check the damn bags before we leave the airport!

I wish the airports would go back to the system of only having one or two ways out of the carousel area and stationing a person to match the baggage tag and the receipt. It is a bother, but so much less bother than losing a bag. Maybe this incident can get tagged onto the Pasengers Rights discussions.

The baggage claim area is the weakest link in the airport’s chain of security. The airlines, the airports, and Homeland Security know this but seem content to wait until something catastrophic happens before investing the manpower and money required to tighten up security. For many people the baggage claim area is the meeting point for travelers so there is a continuous stream of people coming into the area from outside, usually with no security or inspection whatsoever..

imagine a scenario where some evil doer is intent in planting an explosive device at an airport to cause chaos. How easy would it be for someone to pack a suitcase full of explosive material then simply wheel it in to the baggage claim area from outside and just drop it off near a pile of unattended luggage then leave and grab a taxi.

A terrorist act like this would throw panic into our entire airline system and would cause millions in lost revenue for the industry. What is most amazing is that something like this has not yet happened. Our government and the industry needs to be preparing for this eventuality now.

Greatly intensified security in the baggage claim area
would go a long way in preventing baggage theft and in creating a safer environment for travelers.