Are you secure about everything under your feet while you're 30,000 feet up? It's not just your suitcases under there. Its boxes, crates, live animals, human remains, dangerous goods, freight transfered from other domestic and intl airlines, US mail, airline company material etc.
Relax. As an insider (cargo) employee for a US flag carrier I feel pretty good about the security in place. Shippers and brokers now provide a statement with each airwaybill (the airline "ticket" for their freight) that they have met all FAA security measurements and that they "know" who they have gotten the shipment from and what's inside. All boxes cannot be opened and checked by the airlines so this is mandatory from the shipper. Do shippers lie ? Yeah.**
But speaking for my employer we will not take freight from an "unknown" shipper. This means anyone tendering freight to us must be on record as having done so at least x times prior. They must be "known" to us otherwise it doesn't fly.
**If they lie it's usually to hide the true identity of a shipment (costume jewelry when it's really gold jewelry) to avoid certain charges. Foolish, yes. Or I've found undeclared dangerous goods - a definite stupid thing to do. When dangerous goods are presented properly an IATA checklist is applied. This airline goes by the letter of the law and has rarely been fined for error. In fact we have been accused by shipper's of being the most rigid - my name/my reputation is at stake for the acceptance or rejection - I would rather be too rigid than answer in a court of law. Any questions?, feel free.

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misstree

While i appreciate the intent of your post in my experience I have found US airlines and cargo companies to be amongst the worst in terms of security. For example i have found my valuable hazardous materials consignments sitting in exposed areas, mishandled (i ve seen xenon cylinders (highly explosive) being carried upside down and tossed onto the conveyor belts). In addition many cargo co staff think they know everything about handling frieght but actually are quite ignorant of the FAA rules. And the known shipper thing is bogus - ive seen many shipments accepted from "unknown" shippers and being loaded on the same day - my freight included. Documentation is routinely ncorrect and incomplete. The list can go on but In short i would consider the majority of US cargo companies to be quite careless and not in compliance with the FAA mandates. (of course since i dont know your employer this is not directed at you)

sorry for the rant but the opportunity presented itself so

[This message has been edited by indogulf (edited 02-15-2000).]

Indogulf, no problem, I did not think you were ranting at all. My main point is that I'm happy to work for an airline that applies and sticks to the rules at their end. Yes, I've seen "mishandling" of hazardous material such as storing it upside down, spillage or forkhole damage. However, this is then stopped from being put on an airplane. Since I don't "follow" the box once I've done the document and labelling check (After examination of packaging and documentation I can sign it off as in good shape with everything in order), I can only hope my coworkers are not stupid enough to continue to move it if its damaged or leaking. What scares me more is the shipper/broker end whereby they do not declare hazardous material in their shipment. This is usually due to the high price of shipping for these items. We do on occasion catch these culprits - sometimes by literally "sniffing" it out, opening up boxes with questionable contents. For instance if a shipper is too vague with terms such as "makeup, cosmetics, chemicals"
- I would open the box or boxes and take a closer look. I have many times "caught" dangerous goods this way. But whose to say how much slips by - we don't know. I once caught a shipper with 2000 lbs of flammable liquid which he declared as something else - cosmetics. After looking under his overpack we found labels indicating a much more dangerous product than makeup. By the way, only 50 lbs of flammable liquid is allowed on an airplane - can you imagine the fine we would have paid for that one? We turned him away. My only regret is that I didn't pick up the phone and call the FAA on him. Do all airlines/dangerous goods acceptance personnel do this? I don't know, I would tend to think not. I have a conscience, and my mother or sister or child might be on that plane - so I speak for myself and the airline I work for - or at least the airline I work for at the airport I work at on the shift I work ! Safe flying. Misstree.

misstree - i have no doubts about your work or that of your airline. so please take no offense i guess my concern is the inconsitency between airlines, forwarders, etc. Sometimes we have a shipment which is simply to be transhipped with no changes to the package except for Airbill and the connectinf carrier refuses b/c of some problem. Since FAA sets the HAZMAT rules common sense would lead one to beive that this shouldn't happen. Either the first carrier shouldnt have accepted the cargo or the second is wrong?? Anyways i agree - i hope people are more carful and this inconsistency doesnt lead to an accident.