"Fliers flood TSA with baggage-inspection gripes"

Tuesday, July 22, 2003

Fliers flood TSA with baggage-inspection gripes
By Barbara De Lollis 
USA Today

 
The federal agency responsible for airport security is overwhelmed with
passenger complaints about baggage, seven months after it began inspecting
all checked bags for explosives. 

The Transportation Security Administration says it's trying to handle
complaints better, but as summer travel nears its peak, travelers and some
industry officials say improvement can't come fast enough. 

The TSA says it has received nearly 11,000 claims about damaged bags or lost
property since January, when it began screening all checked baggage. Less
than 4% -- 385 -- have been settled and for an average of $90 a claim. About
350 more are ready to be settled. 

Anna Heise says the TSA told her it could take as long as a year to settle
her $200 claim, which she filed after discovering that a divider was ripped
out of her suitcase, which made it useless. 

"In truth, I have no expectations of ever being reimbursed for this damage,"
says Heise, a health care consultant in Jacksonville. 

The TSA says some passengers are filing complaints with it after being
referred by airlines. TSA screeners are supposed to insert a form letter
into bags they open, notifying the owner that their bag was opened by
security. 

It's hard to compare the TSA's handling of baggage complaints with that of
the airlines, which still receive most passengers' complaints. Airlines
don't reveal the disposition of the complaints they get, but some officials
say they settle most claims within 60 days. 

TSA officials say they will eventually set goals for settling claims but
that it's too early to do so now. 

The agency is still setting up a baggage claims office, which it hopes to
have running by early September, and hiring full-time staff. It now relies
mostly on employees borrowed from other departments to process claims. 

"We have a lot of work to do in building these systems from scratch, " says
TSA spokesman Robert Johnson. "Two years from now, we won't have these
problems. We're moving as fast as we can." 

Meanwhile, about 70% of the claims are in limbo. Several thousand claims
were entered into the TSA's computers since mid-June. 

The key to resolving claims faster, Johnson says, is for the TSA to reach a
deal with the airlines regarding claims liability. Agency and industry
officials are discussing how much liability each side should have if the TSA
opens a bag and its owner complains that property is missing or damaged. 

A claim for a bag torn apart during a screener inspection may be more
clear-cut than a claim for missing compact discs, which could have been
misplaced by the owner or removed after a bag left the TSA's possession.
Most checked bags are screened in public view, but passengers may not always
watch, and at some airports they can't. At airports such as Boston Logan,
bomb-detection machines were installed out of public view instead of in the
lobby. 

"The quicker we find a means of resolving consumer complaints, the better we
all are," says Jim May, president of the Air Transport Association, the
trade group for the major airlines. 

Aside from the complaints backlog, interviews with travelers point to other
sources of frustration: 

   * Long telephone waits. Some callers say they have waited on hold on the
TSA's customer service line for 30 minutes to an hour. The waits should
improve, Johnson says. The agency brought in seven more people to answer
calls in the past week -- bringing the total to 21 -- and it's installing
new equipment to better manage phone calls. "The aviation system handles
between 660 million and 1 billion travelers a year, and a fraction of them
are calling here," he says. 

   * Property that falls out or is removed from searched bags doesn't always
get repacked. At some airports, the TSA has an office where it keeps
leftover items and items lost by passengers. At smaller airports, it sends
items to the airport's lost-and-found offices for storage. Frequent-flier
Nancy Hoffman of San Francisco filed a $100 claim for a missing jar of
moisturizer and other small toiletries. She suspects the jar -- wrapped in
her sweatpants -- fell out of her bag when the screener pulled out the
clothing. 

   * Bags left unsecured. The TSA discourages passengers from locking their
bags -- in case screeners need to open them -- but some passengers say that
screeners are not always tying plastic wire ties on zipper slides of
inspected bags to secure them after inspection. The TSA says the ties are
being used in most cases. For now, the agency suggests passengers bring
their own ties. 

Packing tips to ease inspections 

Packing tips for TSA inspections of checked baggage: 

   * Don't overpack. Stuffed bags slow down screeners. Belongings may fall
out. 

   * Carry on valuables. Keep prescription drugs, jewelry and other
valuables with you. 

   * Don't lock bags. The TSA will break locks on bags chosen for
inspection. Use wire or cable ties instead. 

   * Clean golf clubs before traveling. Fertilizers can leave residue on
outdoor equipment that can set off bomb detectors. 

   * Pack dense objects on top. Books, hairdryers and shoes that could
trigger alarms should go in your bag last so that screeners can find them
quickly. 

   * Don't pack banned items. Check the TSA's Web site, www.tsa.gov, for a
list of items banned from checked bags or carry-ons. 

   * Use plastic bags. Store toiletries and other small items inside plastic
bags to help prevent spillage, breakage or loss in case your bag has to be
searched. 

If you have a complaint about your baggage: 

   * Contact the airline. Most airlines recommend reporting missing bags at
the airport within 24 hours and filling out a claim report within 30 to 45
days. 

   * Contact the TSA. If your bag contains a notice that it was inspected by
the TSA, you'll find a contact number (866-289-9673) and e-mail address
(TellTSA@xxxxxxxxxxx) inside.


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