BigSteve57
Member
My wife and I recently came back from a trip where we flew with a hunting rifle from BWI (Baltimore Washington Intl.) to/from BZN (Bozeman MT). The airline was American Airlines. Overall the flights were uneventful, it's the handling of my firearm that's the subject of this post.
Check-in was uneventful at BWI except for the fact that our reservations had somehow stipulated that we BOTH were flying with firearms when it was just me. Apparently this is some sort of crisis as the clerk couldn't clear the entry for my wife and wouldn't let us check in until it was rectified. After 40 minutes of waiting at the counter we bailed to another clerk who fixed it in about 5 keystrokes on the computer. Let's chalk that one up to lack of employee training. But, to save future hassles you might want to be very clear on your reservations as to just WHO is carrying firearms.
Retrieving the firearm at BZN was a little disconcerting. Regular bags came out on the familiar carousel. However, all firearms came out on an adjacent chute where anyone could just walk up and take them. THIS PRACTICE REALLY BUGS ME. We've had this happen at other airports such as Dulles.
On the return trip things were much better. There were no issues checking in at BZN however I was REALLY impressed with the way my firearm was handled in Baltimore.
At BWI, instead of having the firearm come out on the regular baggage carousel or out of some other unattended chute my firearm was hand delivered by a TSA agent to the American Airlines baggage office where I was waiting. The TSA agent checked my baggage claim check and MD driver's license before personally handing the gun case over to me.
That's how it should be handled IMHO.
Check-in was uneventful at BWI except for the fact that our reservations had somehow stipulated that we BOTH were flying with firearms when it was just me. Apparently this is some sort of crisis as the clerk couldn't clear the entry for my wife and wouldn't let us check in until it was rectified. After 40 minutes of waiting at the counter we bailed to another clerk who fixed it in about 5 keystrokes on the computer. Let's chalk that one up to lack of employee training. But, to save future hassles you might want to be very clear on your reservations as to just WHO is carrying firearms.
Retrieving the firearm at BZN was a little disconcerting. Regular bags came out on the familiar carousel. However, all firearms came out on an adjacent chute where anyone could just walk up and take them. THIS PRACTICE REALLY BUGS ME. We've had this happen at other airports such as Dulles.
On the return trip things were much better. There were no issues checking in at BZN however I was REALLY impressed with the way my firearm was handled in Baltimore.
At BWI, instead of having the firearm come out on the regular baggage carousel or out of some other unattended chute my firearm was hand delivered by a TSA agent to the American Airlines baggage office where I was waiting. The TSA agent checked my baggage claim check and MD driver's license before personally handing the gun case over to me.
That's how it should be handled IMHO.