Sens. Blumenthal, Markey request information regarding airline bag fees, TSA screening procedures

U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Edward Markey (D-MA) recently sent a public letter to Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly requesting information regarding airline bag fees and their impact on screening procedures within the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

The letter stems from recent comments made by Kelly during Fox News Sunday interview, in which he said that people try to avoid the $25-$50 fees to check their bags by stuffing their carry-ons with excess items.

“[The] more you stuff in there, the less the TSA professionals are looking at what’s in those bags. They can’t tell what’s in the bags anymore,” Kelly said.

As a result, the senators inquired about the potential impact airline bag fees might have on TSA’s ability to detect dangerous items, including firearms, explosives, and knives as travelers pass through airport screening.

“With major airlines like American, United, and Delta charging upwards of $25 for the first checked bag and $35 for the second bag, and other airlines charging as much as $50 per bag, it appears that passengers are cramming their belongings into carry-on items to avoid paying exorbitant fees,” the senators wrote.

The letter came with a series of specific questions regarding bag fees and TSA screening procedures, asking if passengers were incentivized to cram belongings into carry-on luggage due to baggage fees, if densely-packed carry-ons impeded the agency’s ability to efficiently scan the contents of those bags, and to describe the capabilities TSA had to detect security threats in checked baggage compared to its capabilities to detect such threats in carry-on bags.

The letter also requested information on if there were any instances in which TSA personnel were unable to identify a prohibited items because the bags were too densely packed.

In early May, the senators introduced the Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous (FAIR) Fees Act, which prohibits airlines from imposing fees such as cancellation charges and bag fees that were not proportional to the costs of the services provided.