Account of Flying with Firearms

C.M. Wow, what a bit of troubling travel. From bad to worse, almost no aspect of this trip was without difficulty.
PHL --> HOU 2009-04-13	HOU --> PHL 2009-04-16

Luggage & Gear
One Glock pistol stored in a hard pistol case secured with a keyed Ruger brand padlock. Said case was placed underneath other belongings at the center of a semi-hard (three hard sides, one soft top side) piece of luggage which was secured with an inexpensive keyed Master brand padlock.

Outbound Travel
The SouthWest staff was unfamiliar with firearm transportation rules and was somewhat uncooperative with C.M. when he presented his bags for check-in. There was no secondary TSA screening area to which he could then present them for inspection. With his bags ready to be taken away by the airline, he had to inform them that they were locked and inquired about any concerns this would present during screening.

The airline check-in staffer requested his keys so that she could bring said keys along with the bags to the TSA. He politely but firmly objected, stating that this violates federal law, and asked for a supervisor. She opted to get the TSA instead, saying "wait here" while she went back behind a secured door.

Five or six minutes later, two TSA staffers arrived (neither was a supervisor) again asking for keys. "Well bring them right back when we're done" was their assertion. That's not the issue, C.M. pointed out. "I'm just trying to follow federal law here and it's very explicit." At this time, one of the TSA screeners responded with a real gem of a comment... "Well, I am the federal law and I say it's ok."

C.M. pointed out that this isn't how it works, and that he was not prepared under any circumstances to have his keys out of his possession. He would happily wait or have another option presented, as he was checking in with plenty of time to spare. Eventually, one TSA screener went back to where the bags were and ran them through the x-ray machine while the other uniformed gentleman waited with C.M. The plan was to radio out if there was any issue and they'd "deal with it" at that time. The call came through that there was nothing suspicious on the x-ray and C.M. proceeded to the gate for his flight.

The luggage arrived in Houston on time, still locked, and with the contents undisturbed.

Homebound Travel
Preparing for his return flight, C.M. anticipated less resistance from the people whom he expected to encounter at the airport in Houston. To some degree this was correct, but he none the less still received some difficulty. When alerting the check-in agent to the fact that he was traveling with firearms and would need to proceed to a secondary area, she informed him there was none, and that his bag would be unlocked and taken back for screening in the secure zone. When he alerted her that he needed to be present for screening, since he would not unlock his bag, she said "hold on, i'll be right with you" and completed the rest of his paperwork.

Among the items printed at her kiosk was one final document, printed on airline boarding pass paper, with the SouthWest firearms travel policy printed (possibly from the web) and one section highlighted... the section where SouthWest states "a firearm in a hard-sided, locked container may be placed inside a soft-sided, unlocked suitcase." This, C.M. pointed out, did not preclude the possibility of the outer case being locked as well. They went back and forth a bit, and ultimately the bag was sent back to the secured area for screening still locked with the Master padlock on the outside. At no time did C.M. see the secondary area or interact with any TSA staffers on this leg of the journey.

Upon arrival in Philadelphia, C.M. inspected his luggage (which arrived on-time with him) and was astonished to see that it had clearly been opened and totally ransacked, despite the Master Lock still being in place. It was not immediately apparent if said lock had been picked or shimmed and then ultimately replaced. It also wasn't (and still isn't) clear if the TSA did this or if it was baggage handling staff acting illicitly. The reasons for confusion..

1. There was a TSA inspection notice inside the bag (although these are available anywhere and could be used as misdirection)
2. The locks were picked or shimmed, not cut off
3. The pistol case showed signs of bad prying damage and someone had clearly reached in and touched the gun... it was moved around inside this case in a way that normal handling, no matter how severe, would not have produced.
4. The pistol case was at the top of all the rumpled clothes, as if to indicate a person threw it in there just before re-closing the luggage.

If i were asked to offer up my own personal analysis of this... i can say that this appears to me like it was a matter of attempted firearms theft that did not succeed (due to the robustness of C.M.'s inner case) and that the perpetrator (who may have targeted the bag by spotting a weak, yet non-TSA, lock on the outside) attempted a small bit of subterfuge at the end by tossing in one of the "inspected by the TSA" papers which are totally not controlled and easy to obtain in quantity. That's just my opinion. The TSA does not generally pick or shim locks. They just cut them off. Hell, i've seen actual TSA-approved locks cut before when the screeners apparently couldn't be bothered with getting the master key from their supervisor. Also, the TSA screeners almost always go out of their way to see firearms put back deep into a bag when they move items around. They will (often sloppily) place some clothes or other goods on top just before closing the bag. Neither of these two factors were seen in this instance, leading me to conclude this was likely a failed theft, not an unprofessional search. Either way, the fact that it happened at all and the lackluster reaction to this problem are both inexcusable.

Final Details & Thoughts
C.M. attempted to call the TSA phone contact line. They have no means by which to accept complaints on this line, however, and referred him to their web site. He filled out the contact form there, checking the "I want a response" box, but has not heard back. When I asked him if this would affect his decision to ever fly SouthWest again, C.M. replied that he is considering "refusing to fly again... period." This is not a new development, and has been a life decision on his mind for some time now. Trips to his family in Texas in the past have been sometimes made via highway travel and that appears to be his standard plan. If forced to fly again by some circumstance, he admits that ticket price may still be the primary factor and that SouthWest as a carrier could still be an option, but he may not opt to ever fly again with firearms.

Air Travel Ratings
If you don't have the time or the desire to read the full text of someone's account of air travel, you can simply refer to the rating shown at the conclusion of each portion of that person's journey. The following criteria are used in assigning these ratings...

Four Stars	check-in - no hassle, no delay screening - in full view, lock and unlock yourself luggage - all on time and intact
Three Stars	check-in - some delay or mild hassle screening - somewhat obscured, locking and unlocking yourself or it's done directly in front of you luggage - all on time and intact
Two Stars	check-in - major delay or major hassle screening - in a room or area that you could not enter and could barely observe luggage - luggage opened non-destructively
One Star	check-in - flight missed or passenger delayed from flying, properly packed items denied as luggage screening - luggage unlocked and opened totally in another area fully removed from you luggage - destructive entry into luggage and/or tampering with firearms
Zero Stars	This is a special category for outright theft, loss, or damage of firearms during air travel
half-star results are possible... naturally, they involve partial or mitigated problems that somehow fall in-between the above categories