Originally Posted by sunspot
If a passenger boards the aircraft then deplanes, their bags MUST be taken off the flight before departure. I'm told it's a security risk not to get the bags off. (And I know full well they don't get it done all the time.)
Here's my question... if bags can't fly without the passenger how do lost bags get to their destination? Really! How is this different?
Please give me a break if this seems ridiculous. I just want to know the thinking behind this rule.
The difference is that a passenger may never separate himself from his bags but the airlines are free to separate bags from passengers. It's to deter bombs in baggage. The deterrent works fine even if the airline chooses to separate the bag from the passenger because the passenger won't know it's separated.