FlyingUnderTheRadar

In my travels it seems that only in the USA are the baggage claim areas publicly accessible. That is in most countries the only people allowed in the baggage claim areas are passengers and airport employees. As such, passengers must get their bags and then exit into a public area. Given that theft is an issue (ala the recent events at Atlanta) I am wondering what FTers think about having airports in the USA move to such a terminal layout.

I ask because SLC is redoing their terminal and while theft is a concern I would much prefer to wait for my bags without the hoards of people waiting for passengers around. As such, it was something I thought I would bring up.

Thoughts from other FT?

lovely15

I guess I'd wonder what you're doing that it takes you longer to get to the baggage claim than it takes your baggage. I personally worry about the TSA and airline employees stealing my bags more than anyone else - they're the ones with the means to figure out what bag has good stuff in it.

cyclogenesis

At Australian airports baggage claims are public spaces, heavily monitored, but public spaces...

What is the prevalence of theft from baggage claims? I think the chances of lost baggage are greater.. (non scientific, non fact based claim)

piper28

While I wouldn't be shocked of instances where non passengers are walking in and swiping luggage, I think a far more likely problem is a passenger grabbing a bag that they think is theirs and leaving before they realize they have someone elses. I'm guessing this happens far more often than theft from non-passengers.

Turnboss

i agree totally with flyingundertheradar that baggage claim must be only accessible to passengers.. there is always a chance of theft .. for instance in india non travellers are not even allowed inside terminal building .. only passengers

swag

If the concern is theft, or accidentally grabbing the wrong bag, a better system is to have security personnel checking bag tags against bag claim slips upon exit.

cordelli

If you live in the US and arrive in a foreign airport you may assume that they are only accessible to passengers because you have to go through customs and the rest (much like if you arrive in the US bags are not accessible to everybody, only to passengers).

If however you don't clear customs in many of those foreign airports it is accessible to everybody.

I think the best solution is what is done at some airports, where the red coats or whatever are at the exit from baggage claim checking the tags against your claim check. This way you can meet your party at the claim area, they can help you with your bags, etc.

Theft from airports is pretty rare, in the Atlanta story for example they said

Atlanta police are charged with security at Hartsfield Jackson. Their commander says stolen bags reported to them are actually rare

"This year we've reported 30 luggage thefts, bagge thefts, and of those 30 we've made 10 arrests on that. So of the 250,000 people that come to Atlanta a day, that's statistically not that much, but more than we'd like to have," said Major Lane Hagin.

So the airlines probably don't see it as a problem worth spending the money to stop.

N965VJ

I think I've seen some airports that have a person checking bag tags against boarding passes as people leave the area, but that was a while ago. I don't check bags, so I really don't pay much attention.

FlyingUnderTheRadar

The comment about check baggage tags upon exit would certainly be helpful but in my experience publicly accessible baggage claim areas have multiple doors and other exit points that such a system is impracticable as each door/exit point would need to be staffed.

cordelli

At the airports I've seen people checking tags, the baggage claim area is open, but fenced in with two or three entry points. They staff those points and check to see that people leaving with tags have a claim check or ID that matches the baggage tag. It's certainly not impractical at the airports that use to do it.

drat19

My empirical observation is that this pretty much ended at most/all airports after 9/11 when any/all security personnel were re-deployed to entry points rather than exit points. My thought was they stopped caring about bag theft and became only focused on perceived flying threats at that point.

gobluetwo

I don't recall seeing people check baggage tags upon exit in at least 15 years, maybe longer. It would be interesting to see a few exit lines with machines that scan your tag so you can ensure you have the correct bags and so the airline can accurately account for the whereabouts of each piece of checked luggage.

drat19

Rest room stop when there's a queue at said rest room, and it's an, um, "extended visit"...and it's an airport with a long walk between the gates and the claim area.

Javelin

The international terminal at SFO definitely has facilities for checking claimed bags (by facilities I mean a stool and one of those podium-style desks). I don't check bags so I don't really notice but on a few occasions when I was traveling with someone who did, someone actually does check randomly. I say randomly because they usually just do one of those TSA scribbles on the stub and wave you off.

This was definitely after 9/11 (I'm young enough to only have flown two or three times pre-9/11) but this is a practice in decline—I haven't seen them very much over the past few years.

The SFO arrivals area is completely closed to the public though. At SJC, the baggage claim is inside the terminal (you can see the street from the baggage claim). At BUR, the baggage claim is outside next to the drop-off/pick-up zone, which is probably the most outside-accessible baggage claim I have seen so far.

youreadyfreddie

^

If the baggage claim were accessible to PAX only it would eliminate the problem of random family members spreading out in front of the luggage conveyer to effectively block other people from easily retrieving their luggage.