Originally Posted by Bart

We have one pod located inside the security identification display area (SIDA), and we rely on the airline ticket agent to address these questions with passengers. What happens then is if a passenger has a combination-type lock, it is preset to the combination, and the ticket agent writes "L" on the luggage tag that means we should spin the numbers once it clears screening. If the passenger has a padlock, the ticket agent places that inside a baggie, staples it to the luggage tag with the "L" written on it, and we replace the lock once it clears screening. During peak periods, not all ticket agents check to make sure the bags are unlocked, or passengers absent-mindedly claim their bags are unlocked when they really aren't.

We have international flights as well, and that's the toughest challenge for the exact reasons you mentioned. Many passengers lock their bags because of the potential for theft by baggage handlers and customs inspection officials at foreign airports. Exacerbating this is the requirement to check-in two to three hours early (the old hurry-up-and-wait syndrome) which means that we're usually working on getting an earlier scheduled domestic flight out, and can't always accomodate international travelers who want us to screen their bags immediately. This is where the balancing act between customer service and meeting airline time lines gets pretty tough. We try.

I don't know why TSA stopped the practice of using the plastic TSA seals. I agree with you, we should use them. I strongly recommend using TSA-approved TravelSentry locks, especially for international flights. We have master keys that allow us to open them if necessary, and we can re-lock them afterwards.

As I said, I thought these were pretty standard at all TSA airports and they would have similar procedures (depending on airport configuration and a couple other factors which may change the specific procedure but still follow the same general principle).