Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: Re: we can all rest easy now, airports are safe
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 14:29:58 -0500
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 12:20:44 -0700 To: farber () cis upenn edu, ip-sub-1 () majordomo pobox com From: Brett Glass <brett () lariat org> At 11:47 AM 1/20/2002, Mary Shaw wrote: >It would be nice to think that "baggage matching" eliminates the problem of >lost luggage. However, if the criterion for the originating flight is "for >every piece of checked luggeage, its owner is on the plane" (omitting the >"for every passenger on the plane, all that passenger's checked bags are on >the plane" part), there's no guarantee against lost luggage. What happens >if the airline separates my bag from me? Given the airlines' level of concern for their passengers nowadays, the answer might well be, "You'll see it when you get home." (Of course, if the bag is lost in an intermediate city in which you change planes, that might not be the case either.) Of course, even if the airline does keep your bag on your plane, it can still be pilfered at your destination due to the low level of security at airportbaggage carousels, where (ironically) no effort is typically made to match bagsto passengers. >Finally, I got into the habit of using hard side luggage and locks when I >must check bags because of experience with things being stolen in transit >from zip-up soft-side bags. I do this when I must check luggage. My hard-sided luggage has three layers of security: locks on the suitcase's two latches, a combination lock, and a strap around the outside which I secure with a tie that makes tampering obvious. So far, no one has attempted to search inside the luggage. An even better approach used to be to avoid checking luggage at all. But this became infeasible after the September 11 attacks, when the airlines began to limit carry-on baggage so severely that carrying everything one was taking was virtually prohibited. >What's the best guidance about packing to allow >inspectors to inspect but prevent sticky-fingered personnel from lifting >things? Drive instead of flying. My wife and I are preparing to invest in a high- mileage hybrid vehicle for this purpose. Given the long delays and near- proctological searches that have become part of the flying experience, we expect that, for most trips, the total time spent traveling will be nearly the same... and much more pleasant. --Brett Glass
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- IP: Re: we can all rest easy now, airports are safe David Farber (Jan 20)
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- IP: Re: we can all rest easy now, airports are safe David Farber (Jan 20)