Phoenix airport luggage thefts: Did you lose a bag? [Updated]
Take a look at the photo above. Recognize your bag? If so, you may be one of possibly hundreds of passengers whose luggage may have been stolen off carousels at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) in Arizona.
Police are asking travelers who think they might have been victimized to call the property crimes section at the Phoenix Police Department, (602) 495-7808.
In a news alert on their website, Phoenix police said they arrested two people on suspicion of stealing luggage from the airport’s carousels after an officer reported suspicious behavior there. When police searched the couple’s home Tuesday, Nov. 3, they found “suitcases everywhere — from floor to ceiling,” said Det. James Holmes, a department spokesman. The photo above shows some of the bags.
As many as 1,000 bags may have been involved in the case, according to the Associated Press. The story quoted a Phoenix airport spokeswoman as saying that airport officials and airlines were assessing security and talking about checking passengers’ claim checks against their bag tags.
I put in a call today to Southwest Airlines, which uses the Phoenix airport as a hub, to see what its bag-check practices are and whether it plans to make any changes. I’ll update this post if I hear back.
[Updated at 1:48 p.m. Nov. 4: Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins said this afternoon that although the airline has "security matrices in place," the precautions have not included matching claim checks to bags, a practice that he said was discontinued years ago because of "a manpower issue." He added: "We are changing some of our practices in Phoenix to make certain that we put more eyes and ears in the baggage claim areas." ]
In the meantime: Ever wonder why so few airlines try to match the checks to the bags when you leave the luggage-claim area? When I looked into this three years ago, airlines told me it wasn’t worth the cost because so few bags were stolen. Of course, no one seemed to keep statistics on this, so how would they know?
While working on that story, I watched hundreds of bags sit apparently unclaimed, sometimes circling for hours on baggage carousels, at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
In fact, the airlines say most “lost” bags are delayed, not missing, and are found and returned to owners. Worldwide, about one passenger in 2,000 lost a bag in 2005, representing about 4% of delayed-bag reports filed with airlines, said SITA, a Geneva-based technology company that provides bag-tracing software, when I spoke with them in 2006. The latest statistics show an even lower rate of loss.
How many of those lost bags were stolen? The Phoenix news makes me wonder.
For advice on how protect your bag and belongings from thieves, see my 10 tips.
— Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor
Photo: Some of the luggage found at the home of theft suspects arrested this week in a Phoenix suburb. Credit: Associated Press / Phoenix Police Department
14 Comments on “Phoenix airport luggage thefts: Did you lose a bag? [Updated]”
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November 4th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
‘Of course, no one seemed to keep statistics on this, so how would they know?’
Duh, they would know if somebody puts in a claim for a missing bag.
November 4th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
People now a dAys are going crazy those bags belong to people and things that are speacial to the peolpe that are in those bags
November 4th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Hi Dudley–Thanks. I may not have been clear. Most bags in missing-bag reports show up eventually, airlines say. As for those that don’t, none of the airlines that I’ve spoken with over the years has been able to tell me how many are stolen, versus accidentally switched with another bag, mysteriously lost or whatever. Anyone seen statistics on this?
Jane Engle,
Assisant Los Angeles Times Travel Editor
November 5th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Phoenix sky harbor International
Airport is a world renowned and
prestigious airport.The Complains
of theft or stolen bags is really shameful and insulting.This could spoil the reputation of the airport.
Proper security should be maintained
so that people could fly safely to their destinations…
November 5th, 2009 at 6:47 am
Of course this is the only place and the only two people that due this.
Airport security is like Limburger cheese and we pay for the holes. Just don’t hid anything in your shoe.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Basically, the airlines are too cheap to prevent our bags from being stolen.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:51 am
“…it wasn’t worth the cost because so few bags were stolen…”
Hmmm,do you think it was perhaps it was BECAUSE luggage tags were being checked ?
November 5th, 2009 at 10:13 am
A large suitcase of mine was “lost” after a trip to Japan, somewhere between customs in San Francisco and sitting on a carousel in LA. United showed that it had gone on the plane in SF, and arrived in LA. Since our luggage was put on an earlier flight (United wouldn’t allow us to go on an earlier flight since “we had to fly with our luggage”), all four bags sat on the carousel for an hour after arriving in LA. Three were still there when we got there. United never found the bag. Airport police refused to take a report, saying that since we last had the bag in San Francisco, it was the jurisdiction of the San Francisco police. LAPD was uninterested in helping, as was San Francisco police (which seemed pointless, since United had scanned the bag as arriving in LA). I have no confidence in figures from the airlines, since the baggage desk at LAX told me that “it happens all the time.” It may seem like a small thing, to lose a bag, but between business clothes and souvenirs, we probably lost at least $2,000 worth of goods, plus our suitcase. Not much to some people at United and the LAX airport police, but to us, following a once in a lifetime trip to Japan, it was very frustrating.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:40 am
My luggage was lost/stolen May 19 SJC to Phoenix via Southwest…there were 6 others claiming lost luggage you would think with this many claims the AIRLINES would have alerted authorities much sooner.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
In the old days (70’s? 80’s?) you couldn’t get out of the baggage area at LAX with a bag, without having your bag checked to your bag receipt. Why is all other airport security ramped up, and that part gone completely? (I know the answer but it really does not make sense).
November 5th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
You should see the Kings’ mug shots.
They live at the corner of Red and Neck.
November 5th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
I lost a set of golf clubs at that airport back in 06. I knew it was stolen. No one checks anything there, anybody can go right to the luggage claim area and steal just about anything. As far as airports are concerned, sky harbor is the worst in my opinion for baggage security.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I flew to PHX on labor day weekend, and yes, my bag was lost along with 6 other people, via Southwest Airlines. I see a post from May 19 to PHX as well. Wow, yes…why wouldn’t someone investigate why so many bags are going lost? Since they charge for bags now (most airlines) don’t you think they could now afford to pay for employees to check bags when you leave the airport?????????? Where is the common sense??
November 7th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Thousands of suitcases = years of stealing. It took that long to catch these thieves? But, just try checking in through security with a half full 6 oz bottle of shampoo and see how fast they jump on you. Airport security is an oxymoron.