[Jetliner]

Originally Posted by Gromit801

Ok, by TSA regs, no baggage goes without it's owners.

Really? What reg might that be? Keep looking because you will not find such a regulation because no such regulation exists. The airline is not allowed to check a bag unless the passenger has a reservation for that flight, however since all bags are security screened there is no bag matching on domestic flights.

Also, it is possible that the boarding pass could have been mis-scanned and the plane went anyway. It's not supposed to happen, but it can. It's rare, but sometimes a passenger will still manage to board the wrong flight and fly. Also we used to joke that one of the requirements to be a flight attendant is that you cannot be able to count. That joke was for a reason. The fact is that there is also NO security regulation that the counts have to match. That is more of an FAA thing, but all that is really looked at from any regulatory standpoint is that each person boarding the flgiht was authorized to be on the flgiht. So the person that boards the wrong plane - problem. In this case it's not (from a reg standpoint) since the passenger did in fact have a boarding pass for the flgiht.

The OP needs to contact the DOT. The problem is that airlines have a policy that if you don't fly the first leg of the trip, your whole reservation gets canceled. This is to keep people from cheating the system - A ticket from Newark to Miami might be more than a ticket from Rochester to Miami with a stop in Newark. This is because fares are based on competition in the city pairs (Rochester-Miami vs Newark-Miami). So this policy prevents someone from buying the Rochester ticket and getting on in Newark. Same can apply for only wanting a one way.

But if the passenger shows the boarding pass, and you can see that bags were checked in, that should have been more than enough to show that the passenger did in fact fly. You need to contact the DOT.

[jimworcs]

Spot on Jetliner.. there is sufficient evidence to show that this passenger flew. Does Continental charge for a second check-in bag? If so, then they should have a second bag charge for one of the "two" legitimate passengers who flew. If they don't, this adds further evidence that the third passenger flew. Continental had oversold this flight. They sought to exploit their own incompetence by refusing the passenger. The onus should not have been put onto the passenger in this case. Their conduct is OUTRAGEOUS. Continental appear to be going down the same route as Delta.. charge full service airline rates for discount type service. This needs to be dealt with by the DOT.

[jimworcs]

One other point Jetliner...

It would surprise me if a passenger on a domestic flight checked in at the airport and checked a bag, and then failed to board, if the TSA and FAA would not consider that to be a VERY serious breach of security regulations if the aircraft flew with the bag onboard. Whilst bags can travel without the passenger (for example, if bags are lost or fail to make the original flight); the circumstances I have outlined above are a very serious security issue. I am no expert, but I know that in Europe this would be in the category of one of the most serious security breaches possible. This method is suspected to be the way in which the PanAm/Lockerbie disaster occurred.

[Jetliner]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

One other point Jetliner...

It would surprise me if a passenger on a domestic flight checked in at the airport and checked a bag, and then failed to board, if the TSA and FAA would not consider that to be a VERY serious breach of security regulations if the aircraft flew with the bag onboard. Whilst bags can travel without the passenger (for example, if bags are lost or fail to make the original flight); the circumstances I have outlined above are a very serious security issue. I am no expert, but I know that in Europe this would be in the category of one of the most serious security breaches possible. This method is suspected to be the way in which the PanAm/Lockerbie disaster occurred.

Yes, well, we are not talking about Europe here. And I will say that you are 100% wrong. As long as it's a domestic flight there is NO bag matching since all bags are screened.

[Gromit801]

Originally Posted by Jetliner

Really? What reg might that be? Keep looking because you will not find such a regulation because no such regulation exists. The airline is not allowed to check a bag unless the passenger has a reservation for that flight, however since all bags are security screened there is no bag matching on domestic flights.

So you're saying passengers ARE allowed to send their baggage without being on the flight? And of course TSA screeners catch EVERYTHING, like maybe the C4 hidden in an aerosol can? You're saying there is NO security regulation in existence concerning such a possibility?

Reread what I said. "one might assume you were on the aircraft from Newark, because your bags were."

[The_Judge]

Originally Posted by Gromit801

So you're saying passengers ARE allowed to send their baggage without being on the flight? And of course TSA screeners catch EVERYTHING, like maybe the C4 hidden in an aerosol can? You're saying there is NO security regulation in existence concerning such a possibility?

I will echo jetliner's correct statement. U.S. domestic flights are not positive bag matched. Efforts are made, when possible, to remove bags if a passenger no-shows for a flight but on a bulk loaded plane with hundreds of bags, it's not reasonable to expect to be able to find and remove it. Even the government apparently realized this and allows for bags to travel without passengers domestically.

Also, how do you think bags that end up in the wrong place get to where they are supposed to be? Does the passenger fly to where it is then fly back?