The Transportation Security Administration paid out $3 million during the past five years for lost, stolen or damaged items handled by airport screeners.
Based on a review of about 50,000 complaints from 2010-2014 at the nation’s airports, the agency settled passenger claims in about 15,000 cases.
A report by USA TODAY said payment ranged from just a few dollars for non valuable items that went missing to several thousand dollars for expensive jewelry, and electronics.
TSA said claims for loss or damage paid out only represents a tiny percentage of the 2.5 million items it screens every day.
"Overwhelmingly, passengers do not experience any issues with their baggage," the agency said in a statement.
The agency also cracks down hard on pilfering, claiming more than 500 agents have been fired since 2003 for theft.
"TSA aggressively investigates all allegations of misconduct and, when infractions are discovered, moves swiftly to hold the offenders accountable," said Bruce Anderson, a TSA spokesman.
"TSA holds its security officers to the highest professional and ethical standards and has a zero-tolerance policy for theft in the workplace."
TSA said about 5% of all bags screened warrant a further manual examination when screening equipment flags a potentially suspicious item.
The country’s 30 busiest airports accounted for about two in three of all paid claims made by passengers with New York JFK top with 857 paid claims, followed by Los Angeles with 791, the report said.
