Originally Posted by
StanSimmons
The baggage handlers aren't the ones that are cutting locks off of bags, they also don't have the authority to rifle thru the bags. The TSA does both of these things.
While I have had some theft problems before TSA, my personal experience is that after the TSA became involved the problem got more than an order of magnitude worse. I went from having stuff occasionally stolen only at DTW and LAX to having stuff get stolen/rifled thru at more than 50% of the airports I visited. This stopped after I started flying with "firearms", thus locking out the TSA. While this anecdote isn't proof that the TSA is rife with thieves, it does lend credence to that theory.
Virtually all my theft problems were pre-TSA. The only item I've lost post TSA is a hairbrush on an international flight to VIE. The bag had a "we opened your bag" paper inside and stuff had been rifled through but the only thing missing was a ratty old hairbrush. The only unfortunate thing is that I didn't unpack until after the stores closed on Saturday and finding a hairbrush in Vienna on Sunday is impossible.