29‑year‑old Delta Air Lines passenger Joseph Johnson went straight from the Salt Lake City airport Sky Club to jail after reportedly stealing another passenger’s backpack from the lounge and then trying to seize a police officer’s gun when confronted over the theft.
He entered the club around 8:30 p.m. on June 8. Although he was said to be intoxicated, he made it inside before being ejected for misconduct. As he left, he took off with the backpack – containing about $4,000 in contents.
Airport officers located and confronted him. The man was pushing his bag into them and trying to walk away, and they handcuffed the man. As he was being restrain, he tried to grab one of the holstered gun of one officer, yanking it until the officer’s belt lifted.
The officers struck him, forced him to the ground, and secured him with a WRAP restraint device. He still resisted, slamming his head over and over against the plexiglass inside the patrol vehicle while being transported to jail.
Since there’s a risk it might get stolen, should you ever leave your bag unattended in an airport lounge?
- It’s considered ok to leave bags unattended inside a lounge. Many lounges have bag storage, underscoring that the norm is clearly that it is ok not to be with your bags all the time.
You aren’t supposed to leave bags unattended prior to security, but past security everything has already been screened. Walking away from your luggage inside the terminal might still raise flags if you’re at a gate, in a corridor, or walk away from those items at a retail shop. Far less so in a lounge!
- Leaving bags unattended is convenient. You want to leave your belongings when you go to the buffet, get up to go to the restroom, or maybe just walk around a bit before sitting on a plane for several hours.
But whether or not this is a good idea depends on the lounge. In most first class lounges (1) the space isn’t particularly busy, thieves wouldn’t blend in. Plus most passengers there probably have nicer things than you and I do to begin with, so what would be the point?
I’m probably not going to be super-concerned in the Singapore Airlines Private Room, the Qatar Airways al Safwa lounge in Doha, or the Etihad first class lounge in Abu Dhabi.
Etihad First Class Lounge, Abu Dhabi
I don’t think I’ve ever been as alone as I was in the Emirates first class lounge on the A concourse in Dubai. In fact, it was like a neutron bomb went off, the facilities were still there, and I was the last human left on earth.
Emirates A Concourse First Class Floor Of The Terminal, Dubai
Maybe this isn’t correct, but my intuition is that the more premium the lounge the less worried about this that I am? I’ve never given it a second thought in the Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt, and I wouldn’t worry about it at all in the Air France La Premier Lounge in Paris.
On the other hand, years ago Chris Guillebeau described the old Oasia lounge at New York JFK as the ‘Star Wars galaxy bar of middle cabin travelers’. It was a super busy lounge and I just wouldn’t have felt comfortable leaving items unattended there. Most Priority Pass-accessible lounges, in major world cities, will be very busy!
Plaza Premium Lounge DFW
Plus in an empty lounge, thieves are statistically less likely? If there’s 200 people in the lounge maybe there is one thief, but if there are 10 people in the lounge the odds seem against it.
But in a busy lounge you probably need to leave your belongings just to secure your seat. In a Delta Sky Club, American Express Centurion lounge, or Chase Sapphire Lounge, getting up and taking your belongings means someone else is probably going to be sitting there when you get back. You need to at least leave some of your belongings to mark your territory and make sure it’s clear that the space is occupied.
Chase Sapphire Lounge Boston
Plus, does it matter if your belongings get taken.. really? Not all of your stuff is equally valuable, or as grave a consequence to lose. Often I only care about laptop, wallet, and phone and I’m going to take my wallet and phone with me when I get up, because it’s easy and not at all inconvenient. If you take my shirts and underwear ok I guess?
So I really only care about what happens if I leave my laptop behind, but I don’t really want to take it with me to the toilet, and it’s not convenient to carry it up to a buffet and balance the computer, a plate of food and drink (or to make multiple trips because I’m encumbered by the laptop).
And this means how long I’m gone, and how far away I’m going, both matter. Ideally if I’m leaving my belongings behind they’re still going to be within reasonable eye shot or won’t be out of view from long. I might go to the restroom and leave my stuff behind, though if the lounge isn’t crowded I might just as easily take everything with me because I’ll still have available seating to take up when I return.
American Airlines Admirals Club, E Concourse Washington National Airport
However, if I’m going to be gone for an extended time – maybe I’m getting a 25-minute massage in the Qantas first class lounge, I might take my bag with me. I don’t want it to appear that I’ve abandoned my belongings because of the length of time they’ve been left, and I don’t want to wonder whether my computer will still be there when I get back. That would undermine the value of the massage!
Qantas First Class Lounge, Sydney
While lounge thefts do happen on occasion, just as thefts from overhead bins happen on an aircraft – it’s quite rare.
Theft in an airport is even harder than on a plane. There’s more video cameras there than most places, and at large airports there’s more law enforcement agencies on-site than you can possibly imagine. It’s not just TSA and airport or other local police. Add in Customs and Border Patrol, DEA, and FBI to name just a few.
Committing property crimes inside an airport is rare for a reason, despite the large number of people passing through. When it happens it’s rarely motivated by personal greed – much bad behavior instead comes from substance abuse or mental health issues instead. So worry about your stuff in a lounge to your own level of personal comfort, recognize risks are small, but don’t be stupid either.
(HT: Joe)
ABOLISH THE POLICE. They’re drama kings and queens. We don’t need our fellow human beings arrested, detained, or incarcerated. Everybody deserves their freedom.
@Un — ‘Sir, this is a Wendy’s…’ (Yet, another awful take from you…) We want ‘liberty,’ by the way.
How stupid can you be?
So what was the stable genius going to do once he had the cop’s gun, start killing people? There’s no universe where grabbing a cop’s gun works out well.
I always offer to watch someone’s bags if they are going up to the buffet or would ask if someone would do the same for me after saying hello. Otherwise, I take my bags with me – even to the bathroom.
Put in jail for a good ten years. On a permanent No Fly List. Until appropriate penalties are given this kind of behavior will continue.
Great idea @adam. I have done that for years, never had another passenger refuse to help out a fellow passenger.
I’m still trying to believe this happened on Delta.
Amazing, no video.
@ MIAZiggy — Would never happen on a Premium Airline.
Send him to Singapore
nothing like a brutal caning to get ones act together
Wow some people will do anything to get out of yet another riveting work trip to present PowerPoints about last quarter’s sales.
The LAX Polaris lounge is usually pretty empty at 6:30 AM when I arrive from Sydney while on layover to a city that isnt either burning down or overtaken by riots. I feel comfortable leaving my bags unattended.
@Un — Glad you had a nice visit. Even if there are protests in LA or elsewhere (within reason, freedom of speech, assembly, etc., but not freedom to vandalize or be violent), usually the secured areas at airports are not going to be disrupted. (Probably in-part because there’s law enforcement there, you know, the thing you advocated against above.) There’s a balance; yes, governmental overreach is a real problem. Anarchy is not the solution. You’ve taken some extreme positions on here, so much so that I suspect you’re just doing characters and tropes. If you genuinely believe in abolishing police, I say, again, horrible idea, sir. That don’t work well in-practice, dawg.
Of course it depends on the lounge, the country, length of absence and the crowd.
TK Istanbul lounge is like the star wars bar, thankfully TK has lockers like LH so I lockup everything. I’d
By contrast the BA lounges at LHR always seem quite civilized despite the crowds, so I never worry there.
If I’m just getting food I don’t worry about it. The bathroom seems like a bigger risk but one I often take.
In the end it’s all about risk assessment , just like everywhere else. The only place I’ve actually experienced an attempted theft was the airport car rental shuttle at PHX where the perp – with family in tow – stole my wife’s Tumi while we jammed in the back. We tracked him down waiting at Hertz.
I’m disappointed this wasn’t over the bananas