Airline Ticket Processor Reports Computer Theft

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Airline Ticket Processor Reports Computer Theft
Machine Contains Data on Passengers
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 14, 2004; Page E02

An Arlington-based company that processes consumers' plane ticket purchases 
for the major airlines said yesterday that a computer containing passenger 
data has been stolen.

Spokesmen for several major airlines confirmed that the data included 
credit card information, but said they are working with the credit card 
companies and are monitoring the situation for potential fraud. They said 
that no unusual account activity has been detected so far, and they are not 
suggesting that customers cancel their credit cards as a result of the 
incident.

The processing company, Airlines Reporting Corp., issued a statement saying 
that two computers, one monitor and one projector have been stolen. One of 
the computers, it said, "contained information related to travel 
transactions." The company's statement did not disclose when or where the 
theft took place, and attempts to reach a spokesman last night were 
unsuccessful.

"ARC began working with law enforcement authorities immediately upon 
discovery of the theft and has continued to do so," the statement said. It 
added that all "information available to date indicates that the crime was 
a property theft. To date, no misuse of data has been reported to ARC."

Spokesmen for AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, 
Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. all said that the stolen 
computer included information about their customers.

ARC is an airline-owned company that distributes tickets sold by more than 
130 carriers through travel agents. It does not handle ticketing for 
purchases made directly through the major airlines, however. For instance, 
American Airlines customers who bought their tickets through AA 
reservations, AA.com or at the airport would not be affected, according to 
American spokeswoman Stacey Frantz.

Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said a "very limited amount of data" 
about Northwest customers was on the computer. Spokesmen from the other 
companies declined to characterize how many of their customers were 
affected and how much data was available on the machine.

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