[Political Junkie Too]

I was actually at the gate waiting for the flight when my name was called over the loudspeaker. "Sir, they have found two cigarette lighters in your bag and they need to be destroyed," said a woman who was working the check-in desk, rather officiously. "Those two lighters are worth about $300," I said. "You can't just destroy them." "I suggest you go and speak to the American Airlines employee who checked you in, but I think that you might miss your flight," she said

Here's another aspect: I don't know how it is at the John Wayne airport, but I recently departed from the Omaha airport on United, and over there they physically searched all the checked bags PRIOR to the customer checking in the luggage, and they were TSA checkers not United employees. Presumably, if something were found it would be returned to the owner as this was still a public unsecure area and nothing had been turned over to the airlines yet.

Apparently, at John Wayne airport, the bags are checked in first and then an American Airlines employee goes through the bags, confiscating what they don't like and refusing to return the property as it has already been passed through security.

I guess the lesson is that it is less of an airline policy and more of an airport policy, depending on which side of the security line that the bag is searched.

-PJ

[The Westerner]

I'm flying in a couple of weeks. Do you think it would be an offense to place a pair of plastic gloves or cellophane ones in my lugguage with a little note, "Please use these gloves prior to handling my underwear"?