Here's the response via email:

Thank you for your email concerning a luggage lock.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is required by law to screen all property, including checked baggage, which goes onboard commercial passenger airlines. To ensure the security of the traveling public, it is sometimes necessary for Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to inspect checked baggage by hand. Locked checked baggage may cause delays due to the need for TSOs to open locked baggage by using alternative measures, including force. To avoid possible delays and lock damage, TSA-approved Travel Sentry® and Safe Skies® locks can be opened by TSOs without force and little delay. Travel Sentry® and Safe Skies® locks and are available for commercial purchase. TSA cannot, however, guarantee that such locks will never be damaged or lost while TSOs and airline employees handle checked baggage. Nor can TSA approve or endorse this particular product; we expect additional vendors to provide different versions of these "Dual Custody" padlocks to the retail market.

Generally, TSA has no role in prioritizing, sorting, or transporting checked baggage. We are responsible for checked luggage from the time it is presented for screening until the time it has been cleared of screening. Once baggage has been screened and cleared, air carriers are responsible for transporting it to its final destination. As a result, the amount of time checked baggage is under TSA control is relatively short, though it varies depending upon the operational conditions at each airport. In addition, TSA has found that many locks break off in airport baggage conveyor systems. To learn more about TSA’s damaged locks, visit http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-informat...-your-property.



We hope this information is helpful.

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Love the canned copy-and-paste response.