Did you see where they found a roll off dumpster full of missing luggage down in Houston?
I wonder how they got that past security?

 

You typically only need to get past security to bring luggage in, not take it out. Doesn't suprise me much, all the major airlines seem to have major problems wtih mishandling of baggage, mainly related to the luggage handlers themselves stealing the luggage, and not necessarily just because htey are putting luggage on the wrong planes, etc.
Whenever I travel by air, I always go under the assumption that my luggage will get lost, even though tis only happened once. I never pack anything in there that is valuable or that I couldn't loose and in my carry-on always pack at least a day or twos worth of clothes, in the event my luggage does get lost and it takes them a while to find it, or that its gone completely and I have to go shopping again. If I'm leaving for just a few days I just cram everything into one carry-on bag so I dont have to mess with checkling the luggage.
The statistic I heard regarding Continentals lost luggage, is that they mishandled some 79,000 bags last year, which equates to 4.5 per 1000. That means if you are on a flight with 250 people, at least one person on that flight isn't going to have their luggage when they get there.