http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/ny...ted=1&_r=1&hpw
"Testimony at Mr. Bourne’s trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn during September and October revealed a culture of corruption among some baggage handlers at Kennedy. They stowed drugs in secret panels inside planes; stole laptops, lobsters and fine clothing flown as freight; and rifled through passengers’ belongings for perfume, liquor and electronics.
“ ‘Everybody did it.’ That’s a line that a lot of the witnesses said,” recalled Rebecca Grefski, a juror at Mr. Bourne’s trial...
In November 2010, four part-time baggage handlers for American Airlines were arrested on charges of stealing valuables from luggage at Philadelphia International Airport. Detectives working with airline security officials set up surveillance cameras and said they caught the workers taking electronics, cameras and jewelry from passengers’ bags. Three of them pleaded guilty, and the fourth is awaiting trial....
the Transportation Security Administration received about 6,750 reports of property missing from checked baggage...From 2002 to 2010, American Airlines generated more such reports than any other airline...
Yet the testimony in Mr. Bourne’s trial suggested that a serious problem seemed to exist at American Airlines. “What percent of American Airlines employees would you say engaged in this conduct?” a federal prosecutor, Patricia E. Notopoulos, asked Matthew James, a defendant in the case who pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution. “About 80 percent,” Mr. James answered..."
Do you think this problem is widespread and worse at AA than other airlines? What precautions do you take when checking luggage? Maybe I should look into a luggage lock...I've never locked my checked luggage, but I also don't pack any valuables in my checked luggage.