Uh-oh. Better edit that last post. Cargo most definitely flies with passengers. On some routes, the cargo brings more money to the airline than the passengers do.

Just because it doesn't fly in a plane marked "UPS" or "FedEX" doesn't mean it's not cargo.

What do you think combi aircraft are for?

I have no problem with bags being opened, but I do think TSA could take more care resealing bags. I have one of those hard shell ski carriers. It's a pretty simple mechanism, just a hole that has to be lined up on the two halves of the shell and a simple hook put in. On two trips in the last year the bag was not closed correctly. I never have lost any skis or poles, but the bag has come in almost open in one case.

What they could possibly think was in there after an x-ray is beyond me, but that's a different question.

There is a tremendous amount of cargo on passenger aircraft that is not subjected to any screening. The early morning JFK-LHR flights carry much more cargo revenue than passenger revenue.

The amazing "logic" I have heard about this is that since you can't say for sure WHICH plane the cargo will be on, a terrorist would not want to blow it up. If terrorists could cause 5 or 10 planse from JFK to blow up at about the same time, do you really think they would care about the particular flight?

This is the kind of REAL security threat that is going on, but our government is too busy spending money on Iraq and developing new privacy-invading systems to bother with. We aren't upset by the TSA screeners, who are simply doing their job. We are upset with the wasted money and resources addressing non-existent problems.

How sadly misinformed you are.

Hope this isn't indicative of your airport security skill set.

Millions of pounds of cargo fly on passenger aircraft everyday in the USA.

If you have read any of the "please stop bashing TSA" threads, you will see that many of the TSA personnel who post here believe that their only job is to "protect us from terrorists", and not to be accountable to the public for acting appropriately as public servants. Thus, when they finish rifling through your stuff, they don't care one whit what happens afterward (oh and you might recall that not only do they not care what happens afterward, some of them might just 'disappear' some of your stuff in the bargain). (And no, I'm not accusing ALL TSA of doing this.)

different mindsets. the "please stop bashing TSA" threads and "please bash TSA" threads are polar opposites.

some believe in screening passengers/items as their primary "mission". customer service comes second. hopefully not a distant second, but YMMV. others however, are more concerned with customer service over everything else.

the bag should've been closed, and i surely hope that it wasn't intentional to leave such a bag open. especially with a checked bag, but i'm missing the connection between not closing the bag and a general feeling of not being held accountable to the public.

Because it is the institutional mindset of the TSA that it is accountable to nobody. That mindset is evident from Stone on down throughout management.

At some point (BOS for example), the front-line screeners develop the same mindset/attitude of non-accountability as the management.

The open bag is yet another example of either laziness or incompetence. Given the billions of dollars that the TSA wastes and the "Professionalism" we were promised by Tom Daschle when he created this joke of an agency, neither is acceptable.

Sorry I am not aware of this during my day to day routine.

I literally stay 10 feet away from the jetliner and see NO cargo other than luggage being loaded in the belly of the airliner.

Possibly other airlines in different airports do this? In our airport we strictly have PASSENGER and we have CARGO airliners. No in between.

Are you joking?

Have you never watched cargo being loaded onto airplanes?

Passenger airlines carry cargo in the holds all the time and have done so for years. It is a very, very profitable part of their business (perhaps the only profitable part depending on the airline).

Then you must be working in a smaller airport that is only serviced by smaller airplanes (narrowbodies and RJs). Widebody aircraft carry cargo all the time -- they are in part designed to be able to do this.

Narrowbody jets and RJs also carry cargo. Have you ever heard of small package counter-to-counter service? How tough would it be to cram some C4 into a small box? Apparently a lot easier than funding REAL security measures.

In addition to cargo, virtually every US passenger jet carries unscreened US mail. I routinely see both being loaded on aircraft on which I'm flying. What airport do you work at?

Like others have said, you must work at a very small, underserved airport:

http://www.aa.com/content/businessPrograms/cargo.jhtml

http://www.aacargo.com/

American stopped flying cargo-only planes nearly 20 years ago yet last year AA's cargo total was over 2 billion cargo ton miles for $558 million of revenue. All other airlines are similar. In fact, of the legacy airlines, only NW still operates cargo-exclusive aircraft. The others fly cargo in the bellies of the passenger aircraft.

I'm not sure you're looking for it. It might be right under your nose. But then again, since it isn't being screened, of course you might ignore it, and rightfully so.

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