Originally Posted by gooselee

Just arrived BDL-ATL. Ignoring the horribly rude and lacksidaisical TSA agents at BDL, the departure and flight itself was perfectly uneventful.

After arriving at ATL baggage claim, however, we were greeted by a DL red coat who informed us that there was a problem at BDL and our bags would therefore be delayed. A couple folks started getting concerned that she meant our bags had not been loaded at all, but then the red coat continued to explain that our bags were in ATL, they'd just be 10-15 minutes late coming out because they needed to be rescreened before getting delivered to us, as the bags had somehow not been screened at BDL before getting loaded.

Other than getting a bit damp from the rain, my bag and everyone else's came out just fine, but a few questions are being begged:
- How in the heck did unscreened bags get all the way through and loaded on a plane?
- What good does it do to screen the bags upon arrival, before delivery landside to the passengers? I get that they should rescreen bags going to connecting flights, but these were all bags terminating in the domestic baggage claim in ATL.

I feel like this is something I'd like to somehow run up the chain to TSA/DHS if there's even the slightest chance it'll get to someone who can do something. As ridiculous as security theater can be, it's still rather frightening that a full plane of pax completed a flight with bags in the hold that had apparently not been given even a cursory look over before getting loaded. (And yes, I know that unscreened cargo flies all the time, but it's at least marginally harder for some random person to send cargo vs. just dragging a suitcase into the airport and dropping it at a counter).