TSA collects $409,000 in change lost during security screenings
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TSA security agents screen people at at Mitchell International Airport on Wednesday morning, November, 24, 2010. The day before Thanksgiving is typically one of the busiest travel days of the year. Photo by Mike De Sisti / MDESISTI@JOURNALSENTINEL.COM Image by Mike De Sisti
MILWAUKEE - Nickels and dimes left in bins during pre-flight screenings are adding up for the Transportation Safety Administration.
In 2010, the most recent year for which data was available, the TSA collected $409,085.56 at the U.S.'s major airports.
"In 2005, Congress gave TSA the authority to expend unclaimed money for security operations," said TSA south central region spokesman Luis Casanova. "Our screening agents make every effort to reunite passengers with items left at the security checkpoint, however, there are instances where loose change or other items are left behind and unclaimed."
"Unclaimed money, typically consisting of loose coins passengers remove from their pockets, is
documented and turned in to the TSA financial office."
That unclaimed money totaled $383,413.79 in 2008 and $432,790.62 the following year.
"I guess some passengers are more concerned about making their flight than turning around to go back for some missing change," Casanova said.
At Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, the TSA claimed $1,414.93 in 2010, far more than at Wisconsin's other two major airports. Dane County Regional Airport in Madison accounted for just $249.45, while passengers at Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay unwittingly donated $181.73 to the TSA.
The most money in the country was collected at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, where travelers lost a whopping $46,918.06.
"That's just nickels and dimes and pennies," Casanova explained. "But given the volume of passengers at any given airport, it becomes a healthy amount.
The full breakdown of TSA collections by airport:
ABE Lehigh Valley International Airport $ 54.10
ABQ Albuquerque International Sunport Airport $ 1,953.04
ACY Atlantic City International Airport $ 207.96
ALB Albany International Airport $ 1,032.79
ANC Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport $ 1,400.83
ATL Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport $ 16,523.83
AUS Austin-Bergstrom International $ 2,333.79
BDL Hartford-Bradley International Airport $ 1,246.92
BHM Birmingham International Airport $ 1,012.27
BIL Billings Logan International Airport $ 707.85
BIS Bismarck Airport $ 263.47
BNA Nashville International Airport $ 3,233.56
BOI Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field $ 458.03
BOS Logan International Airport $ 5,357.00
BTR Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport $ 429.05
BTV Burlington International Airport $ 146.01
BUF Buffalo Niagara International Airport $ 1,083.25
BUR Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport $ 1,252.28
BWI Baltimore-Washington International Airport $ 3,989.70
CAE Columbia Airport $ 410.01
CHS Charleston International Airport/AFB $ 1,029.42
CLE Cleveland-Hopkins International $ 1,947.98
CLT Charlotte Douglas International Airport $ 4,438.88
CMH Port Columbus International Airport $ 1,213.21
COS Colorado Springs Municipal $ 823.72
CPR Natrona County International Airport $ 1,272.20
CRW Yeager Airport $ 131.73
CVG Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport $ 1,319.94
DAL Dallas Love Field $ 3,024.18
DAY James M. Cox Dayton Intl Airport $ 460.84
DCA Reagan Washington National Airport $ 2,502.83
DEN Denver International Airport $ 3,066.22
DFW Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport $ 14,048.71
DSM Des Moines International Airport $ 718.67
DTW Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport $ 5,208.04
ELP El Paso International Airport $ 654.32
EWR Newark International Airport $ 3,895.41
FAI Fairbanks International Airport $ 73.60
FAT Fresno Yosemite International Airport $ 410.79
FLL Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport $ 4,640.02
FSD Sioux Falls Airport $ 208.92
GEG Spokane International Airport $ 479.74
GJT Walker Field Airport $ 299.78
GRB Austin Straubel International Airport $ 181.73
GRR Gerald Ford Airport $ 236.62
GSN Saipan $ 30.02
GSO Piedmont Triad International Airport $ 444.45
GUM Guam-Antonio B Won Pat International Airport $ 34.37
HNL Honolulu International Airport $ 2,892.72
HOU Houston-Hobby Airport $ 993.47
IAD Washington Dulles International Airport $ 13,945.18
IAH George Bush Intercontinental Airport $ 8,493.53
ICT Wichita Mid-Continent Airport $ 85.41
IND Indianapolis International Airport $ 1,430.27
JAN Jackson Evers International Airport $ 2,726.08
JAX Jacksonville International Airport $ 3,042.55
JFK John F. Kennedy International Airport $ 46,918.06
JNU Juneau International Airport $ 483.79
KOA Kona Hawaii Airport $ 754.76
LAN Capital City Airport $ 296.41
LAS McCarran International Airport $ 14,027.19
LAX Los Angeles International Airport $ 19,110.83
LBB Lubbock International Airport $ 644.83
LGA LaGuardia Airport $ 11,204.84
LGB Long Beach Airport $ 1,024.06
LIH Lihue Airport $ 784.41
LIT Little Rock National Airport $ 1,113.18
MCI Kansas City International Airport $ 3,315.50
MCO Orlando International Airport $ 6,165.50
MDT Harrisburg International Airport $ 266.77
MDW Chicago Midway Airport $ 3,186.80
MEM Memphis International Airport $ 630.34
MIA Miami International Airport $ 15,844.83
MKE General Mitchell International Airport $ 1,414.93
MLI Moline-Quad City International Airport $ 724.67
MOB Mobile Regional Airport $ 227.70
MSN Dane County/Madison $ 249.45
MSP Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport $ 3,876.71
MSY New Orleans International Airport $ 1,876.75
OAK Metropolitan Oakland International Airport $ 2,992.76
OGG Kahului Airport $ 1,533.50
OKC Will Rogers World Airport $ 594.22
OMA Omaha-Eppley Airfield $ 1,166.25
ONT Ontario International Airport $ 2,434.67
ORD O'Hare International Airport $ 15,231.40
ORF Norfolk International Airport $ 1,450.66
PBI Palm Beach International Airport $ 1,771.50
PDX Portland International Airport $ 2,358.94
PHL Philadelphia International Airport $ 6,144.54
PHX Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport $ 7,513.62
PIT Pittsburgh International Airport $ 1,196.86
PNS Pensacola Airport $ 2,110.86
PPG Pago Pago International Airport $ 5.51
PVD T. F. Green State Airport $ 727.85
PWM Portland International Jetport $ 443.11
RDU Raleigh-Durham International Airport $ 2,921.69
RIC Richmond International Airport $ 6,703.21
RNO Reno/Tahoe International Airport $ 1,308.42
RSW Southwest Florida International Airport $ 2,126.86
SAN San Diego International Airport, Lindbergh $ 5,128.79
SAT San Antonio International Airport $ 4,157.96
SAV Savannah International Airport $ 512.91
SBA Santa Barbara Municipal Airport $ 97.29
SDF Louisville International Airport $ 1,238.32
SEA Seattle-Tacoma International Airport $ 4,951.42
SFO San Francisco International Airport $ 15,908.02
SJC San Jose International Airport $ 1,427.06
SLC Salt Lake City International Airport $ 3,817.32
SMF Sacramento International Airport $ 1,922.39
SNA John Wayne Airport $ 2,976.58
STL Lambert St Louis International Airport $ 3,647.12
STT Cyril E. King International Airport $ 745.04
SYR Syracuse-Hancock International Airport $ 321.69
TLH Tallahassee Regional Airport $ 160.50
TPA Tampa International Airport $ 2,906.29
TUL Tulsa International Airport $ 1,094.00
TUS Tucson International Airport $ 544.65
TVC Cherry Capital Airport $ 112.92
TYS Knoxville-McGhee Tyson Airport $ 430.09
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