Despite air travel demand plummeting because of the Coronavirus pandemic, harried airline passengers still managed to leave behind nearly $1 million in spare change at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport security checkpoints across the United States last year. A total of $926,030.40 was collected in fiscal year 2019 in coins and notes, including $18,899.09 in foreign currency.
In comparison, in fiscal year 2018, the TSA collected $960,105 in forgotten money – a record-breaking year which represented a 40 per cent increase in the amount of forgotten change left at checkpoints since 2013.
The top five airports where passengers left money behind in 2019 were:
- John F. Kennedy International Airport – $98,110
- San Francisco International Airport – $52,668.70
- Miami International Airport – $47,694.03
- McCarran International Airport – $44,401.76
- Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport – $40,218.19
And while the TSA says it will always try to reunite passengers with their property, realistically that’s often not possible. Last year, the TSA spent over $2 million from unclaimed passenger money on training and development, while a further $32,000 was spent on bookmarks to advertise the TSA’s Pre✔️ Program.
Worryingly, the TSA recently revealed it was detecting firearms in passenger carry-on luggage at three times the rate in July than the same month in 2019 – despite the fact that passenger numbers are 75 per cent down on 2019.
Last year, a total of 4,432 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the country, averaging about 12.1 firearms per day – up 5 per cent on the number of detected firearms in 2018. Even more concerning was the fact that 80 per cent of the firearms found by TSA screeners were actually loaded.
But while 2020’s figures point to a spike in the number of passengers trying to take their guns onboard planes, analysts suspect it’s really a reflection of TSA security officials having more success in detecting prohibited items because there are fewer passengers to screen.
The potential Federal civil penalty for an unloaded firearm starts at $2,050, while the penalty for a loaded gun starts at $4,100.
