The Transportation Security Administration said Friday that it will pay an average of $110 each to 15,000 airline passengers who claim their possessions were lost, stolen or damaged when their bags were screened for bombs and weapons.

The TSA began inspecting all checked bags at the end of 2002, a security measure ordered by Congress after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Airline passengers have since been caught between the TSA and the airlines, who have failed to agree on who would compensate them for missing or damaged items.

The TSA settled 1,800 claims in the last 22 months.

Now it will pay a total of $1.5 million to another 15,000 travelers, out of 18,000 whose claims have been settled.

Hatfield said 38 percent will be fully reimbursed, 32 percent will get half what they claimed and 12 percent will receive less than half. Three thousand people will not be reimbursed because missing items were either prohibited or didn't belong to them in the first place.

Air Travelers Association president David Stempler said he's been flooded with passenger complaints about missing or damaged possessions. Many people don't even bother to make claims anymore because the process is so slow, he said.

Hatfield said 51 percent of the claims were for damage and 49 percent for possessions lost or stolen.

Two dozen screeners in New York; New Orleans; Detroit; Spokane, Washington; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, have been charged with stealing from checked bags.

Lost, stolen or damaged items include watches, jewelry, suits, prescription drugs, computers, cash and underwear.