Land of the Lost Laptops: Travelers Misplace 12,255 Computers Weekly At U.S. Airports

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- The vast majority -- 67% -- of the lost laptops are never recovered by the owners. Fifty a week are misplaced or stolen at Cleveland Hopkins versus 30 at Greater Cincinnati, which is far busier. Columbus didn't make the list. But the Ohio numbers pale in comparison to Detroit Metropolitan, where business travelers lose an average 575 computers every week. Often, the laptops are loaded with confidential and sensitive data. Another tidbit: In military towns the laptops seemed to be better guarded -- the loss rates were 1 a week in Dayton (Air Force) and Pensacola (Navy), and 3 in Columbus, Ga., (Army Fort Benning). Dell Computer hired the Ponemon Institute to conduct a study last month, which found that Americans are pretty loosey goosey when it comes to minding their computers and keeping them on a leash. Here are the airports, and the numbers of lost laptops per week:

PHX Phoenix -- 200
LAX Los Angeles -- 1200
SAN San Diego -- 10
SFO San Francisco -- 350
DEN Denver International -- 175
MIA Miami International -- 1000
MCO Orlando International -- 50
TPA Tampa International -- 200
ATL Atlanta -- 450
HNL Honolulu -- 5
ORD Chicago O'Hare -- 825
CVG Cincinnati -- 30
MSY New Orleans -- 100
BWI Baltimore -- 125
BOS Logan -- 200
DTW Detroit -- 575
MSP Minneapolis-St. Paul -- 200
MCI Kansas City -- 25
STL St. Louis -- 35
LAS Last Vegas -- 240
EWR Newark -- 750
JFK New York -- 900
LGA Laguardia New York -- 630
CLT Charlotte -- 60
CLE Cleveland -- 50
PHL Philadelphia -- 275
PIT Pittsburgh -- 85
MEM Memphis -- 75
DAL Dallas Love Field -- 5
DFW Dallas Fort Worth -- 250
HOU Houston Hobby -- 175
IAH Houston Bush 125
SLC Salt Lake -- 3
DCA Reagan National Wash. DC -- 450
IAD Washington Dulles -- 400
SEA Seattle -- 3
ANC Anchorage -- 3
TUS Tucson -- 15
LIT Little Rock -- 20
XNA Fayetteville Arkansas -- 20
BUR Burbank Bob Hope -- 15
OAK Oakland -- 65
ONT Ontario -- 25
SMF Sacramento -- 3
SBA Santa Barbera -- 3
SNA John Wayne Orange County -- 8
SJC San Juan -- 211
COS Colorado Springs -- 30
BDL Hartford -- 75
DAB Daytona Beach -- 25
FLL Fort Lauderdale -- 125
JAX Jacksonville -- 20
PBL Palm Beach -- 30
PNS Pensacola -- 1
RSW Fort Myers -- 130
SFB Orlando Sanford -- 5
SRQ Sarasota/Bradenton -- 8
TLH Tallahassee -- 25
CSG Columbus Metropolitan -- 3
BOI Boise -- 3
CMI Champaign/Urbana -- 3
MDW Chicago Midway -- 100
MLI Moline Quad City -- 1
IND Indianapolis -- 30
DSM Des Moines -- 1
LEX Lexington KY -- 1
SDF Louisville -- 12
BTR Baton Rouge -- 8
PWM Portland -- 50
FNT Flint -- 50
GRR Grand Rapids -- 35
JAN Jackson Intl -- 10
LNK Lincoln -- 5
OMA Omaha -- 10
RNO Reno/Tahoe -- 15
MHT Manchester-Boston -- 22
ABQ Albuquerque -- 25
ALB Albany -- 18
BUF Buffalo -- 5
ISP Islip -- 10
ROC Rochester NY -- 20
SYR Syracuse -- 1
FAY Fayetteville -- 3
GSO Greensboro -- 10
RDU Raleigh Durham -- 25
CAK Akron Canton -- 5
DAY Dayton -- 1
OKC Oklahoma City -- 8
TUL Tulsa -- 8
PDX Portland International -- 65
SJU San Juan Marin -- 3
PVD Providence -- 21
GSP Greenville-Spartanburg -- 3
MYR Myrtle Beach -- 3
BNA Nashville -- 106
AUS Austin -- 165
ELP El Paso -- 75
LBB Lubbock -- 1
SAT San Antonio -- 132
BTV Burlington -- 5
ORF Norfolk -- 8
ROA Roanoke -- 0
RIC Richmond -- 1
CRW Charleston WVA -- 1
MKE Milwaukee -- 25