Claims for TSA damage few at Stewart

NEW WINDSOR Analysis of Transportation Security Administration data for damaged or lost luggage shows only a modest level for Stewart International Airport here.

The total number of claims from 2010 through 2014 was 25, according to TSA data reviewed by USA TODAY and the Poughkeepsie Journal.  Total payments made to passengers whose complaints were upheld by the agency came to just $925.

The number of claims at Stewart is smaller than at other airports the local fliers often use, including the big ones in the New York metropolitan area.  That's because Stewart has only a few airlines and a passenger volume that is far less. In this database, 179,093 passengers were counted at Stewart in 2014.

But on a comparison basis, using the number of incidents per 100,000 passengers, Stewart's rate was 13.6 incidents, while others nearby were lower. John F. Kennedy International Airport's rate was 12.44; Newark Liberty International Airport was 9.55; LaGuardia Airport was 5.51 and Westchester County Airport was 7.09, the report showed.

For volume of claims, Kennedy topped the list nationally, with 857 paid claims.

Nationally, the agency has paid more than $3 million in the past five years, USA TODAY reported.  Payments ranged from a few dollars to several thousand dollars when the loss was jewelry, electronics or other items that were lost or broken.  USA TODAY reported that the agency had fired more than 500 employees since 2003 for theft. About one in 20 bags is opened when suspicions are aroused, typically by something showing up on scanning equipment.

The data covers only those complaints that were made to the agency, not claims made separately to the airlines or to airports where other companies may handle baggage in transit.

The Transportation Security Agency runs the checkpoints where passengers are screened before boarding planes and also checks baggage, whether carried on or checked in.

In the Stewart accounting, 16 of the 25 complaints were denied. Only four were approved as submitted and two were settled for a lesser sum, with three unresolved.

Paid claims ranged from $17 to $400. Categories of those claims were food and drink, medical/science, jewelry/watches, currency and miscellaneous.

Such statistics did not impress James Wright, volunteer chairman of the advisory Stewart Airport Commission, who said the key point is that security is important and that the agency is providing it.

Statistics, he said, "can be interpreted differently by different people," but there is no doubt that there is danger. "We'll  take as much security as we can get. The world is filled with problems and we don’t want the problems here."

Craig Wolf: 845-437-4815; cwolf@poughkeepsiejournal.com; Twitter: @craigwolfPJ