PHOENIX, AZ -- Passengers at Sky Harbor Airport said they weren't surprised someone has been stealing bags from the baggage claim area.
They said there appears to be little security to stop anyone from doing it.
"You can walk up to any of these carousels and as you're standing in line, you just pick up a bag and walk off with it," said Wayne Dolan, who flew in to Sky Harbor Airport on Tuesday.
He said he tries to carry on his bags most of the time, but on long trips that's impossible to do.
Karen Olson said some of the airports she uses on the East Coast still check to see if you have a bag check receipt before letting you remove luggage from baggage claim.
She said Sky Harbor, like many other airports, is different.
"I'd say it's probably a piece of cake to steal a bag. People are doing their own things in the baggage area. I can't imagine it would be difficult at all," Olson said.
Sky Harbor officials said people in the baggage claim area are under the watch of surveillance cameras. Police officers and Skycaps are also keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.
Terminal 4 at Sky Harbor Airport used to have people stationed near baggage claim who checked to make sure you took only the bags that belonged to you. Some airports refer to the practice as 'Positive Bag Match.'
The airlines paid for the cost of the program, which ended in 2005.
According to Sky Harbor spokesperson Deb Ostreicher, "When the economy started turning and airlines were cost cutting, that's when the airlines cut that program."
We asked if Sky Harbor Airport might help the airlines bring that program back in light of the numerous bags which were stolen over the last weeks and months.
"The airport is talking to the airlines as well as all of our partners," Ostreicher said. "These are everybody's passengers and very important to the community, so we want this to be a safe place to fly."
