So what will happen when a bag misses a transfer? With positive bag matching it could not go out on the next flight, but would have to be sent by truck or train. Otherwise the the bag could be opened and searched before forwarding it. I believe that the security problem being guarded against is a passenger getting off at an intermediate point with the bag containing some device going on without that passenger. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 18:32:46 -0500 From: W Wilson <wlw-jr@att.net> WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The government may close a loophole in its aviation security plan by requiring airlines to match all checked luggage with passengers on every flight, a senior Transportation Department official said on Tuesday. John Magaw, head of the newly created Transportation Security Administration, told a Senate hearing that his agency would launch a pilot program to see if 100 percent bag matching could be accomplished without adding more passenger inconvenience and delaying flights. The big airlines opposed such a move, saying it would seriously disrupt their system of hubs, which are airports where domestic airlines route passengers to connecting flights. The Transportation Department rolled out its baggage security plan last month with great fanfare, saying it had met all conditions imposed by Congress to account more closely for checked luggage stowed in the bellies of commercial jets. With a paucity of technology available to screen for bombs and weapons, the government is mainly relying on airlines to make sure that checked luggage is matched to passengers who board aircraft. While this strategy would not deter a suicidal bomber, it would by design prevent someone who did not board a plane from attempting to blow it up with a bomb that could be detonated by remote or by other high-tech means. The Transportation Department sided with airline arguments that full bag matching would disrupt their operations and required only that they account for passengers and their checked luggage on originating flights. Critics, including several lawmakers, bristled that the exemption for connecting flights weakened the entire aviation security program and called it a glaring loophole that had to be closed. Magaw planned to meet with executives from major carriers late on Tuesday to tell them about the pilot program and to seek their input on a broader plan for the bag match strategy. "We want them to give us their best thoughts and ideas because we are going to do it," Magaw said of the pilot program. "We want a total picture of what we can and can't do."