Originally Posted by AlisoninAlaska

This is something I am familiar with. I am a "known shipper" which basically involves being investigated by the airlines (background & credit check) and having an in person inspection of my business by an airline employee.

What being a known shipper means is that you can put cargo on a passenger jet as well as a freighter. If you aren't a known shipper you're only throwing your cargo on a freighter, your number of available flights is reduced drastically. Say Joe Blow shows up at SEA with 20 cases of Krispy Kreme to be shipped to FAI. His boxes of doughnuts are not going on a passenger jet because Mr. Blow is not a known shipper. Unless he times it just right, Mr. Blow is going to be eating stale doughnuts because they are going to be waiting for space available on a freighter plane. In the meantime, I show up right after Joe Blow with 20 boxes of cherries and they are cleared by the airline and popped on a passenger jet and in Fairbanks by the next morning.

Every cargo location I have been to (admittedly not many) have x-ray machines. We are told ALL cargo is subject to inspection. I have watched lots of cargo run through the x-ray. The airline has basically a double screen for cargo on passenger jets;

1-The shipper is pre-cleared through the airline via the known shipper status and is supposedly shipping only innocuous packages.
2-The cargo is inspected at the airline's air cargo before it is put on the plane.

While many known shippers probably don't inspect all of their packages, the cargo is going to undergo a cursory visual inspection and likely going to be x-rayed at the airline's air cargo. I do not know if they have TSA screeners working at air cargo as well? I have never really paid attention to that as they all have neon vests on.


Alison
Chugiak, Alaska