Welcome
Two million travelers come in contact with the Transportation Security Administration every day. It is an intense experience all around -- extremely personal in some senses but also impersonal at the same time.
There is no time to talk, to listen, to engage with each other. There isn’t much opportunity for our Security Officers to explain the ‘why,’ of what we ask you to do at the checkpoint, just the ‘what’ needs to be done to clear security. The result is that the feedback and venting ends up circulating among passengers with no real opportunity for us to learn from you or vice versa. We get feedback verbally and non-verbally at the checkpoint and see a lot in the blogs, again without a real dialogue.
Our ambition is to provide here a forum for a lively, open discussion of TSA issues. While I and senior leadership of TSA will participate in the discussion, we are turning the keyboard over to several hosts who represent what’s best about TSA (its people). Our hosts aren’t responsible for TSA’s policies, nor will they have to defend them -- their job is to engage with you straight-up and take it from there. Our hosts will have access to senior leadership but will have very few editorial constraints. Our postings from the public will be reviewed to remove the destructive but not touch the critical or cranky.
Please be patient and good-humored as we get underway. The opportunity is that we will incorporate what we learn in this forum in our checkpoint process evolution. We will not only give you straight answers to your questions but we will challenge you with new ideas and involve you in upcoming changes.
One of my major goals of 2008 is to get TSA and passengers back on the same side, working together. We need your help to get the checkpoint to be a better environment for us to do our security job and for you to get through quickly and onto your flight. Seems like the way to get that going is for us to open up and hear your feedback...
Thanks for joining us,
Kip Hawley
Labels: innovation, mission
posted by Neil at
10:00 AM
854 Comments:
As a TSA Screening Manager I would just like to say that I think this blog will be informative for both the public and the screening force at large! Maybe it will bridge the gap that seems to have formed between the public and the TSA.
January 30, 2008 10:19 AM
As a TSA SCreening Manager I want to welcome all those who are viisting this site! I believe it will be a positive force for bridging the gap between the public (which for the most part seems to have forgotten about 9/11) and the TSA which is reminded of it every day.
January 30, 2008 10:22 AM
Great Job Kip!
As a TSA Supervisor in Seattle since September 2002. I think the public's feedback is going to be tremendously invaluable to the job TSA does daily.
January 30, 2008 11:48 AM
As a person that flights kind of frequently, I think this will help us to get more info since there is not much info about security on the airports. Making this blog public/out there will be good.
January 30, 2008 12:04 PM
Speaking as one who has just been approved for the Ready Pool, Thank you! I look forward to the commentaries on this site from both a personal, and hopefully, professional level.
January 30, 2008 12:06 PM
I have been with TSA since Sept 2002. I think this is a fantastic idea and I welcome all the passengers to join in and help foster a community where we are all working towards the same goal - keeping people safe when they travel.
January 30, 2008 12:09 PM
The following is a email to TSA. Maybe you can help...
I am a traveler, and a US citizen.
At LAX, NEXUS photo ID, which takes elevated security to obtain, and is government issued, is not recognized by TSA as "valid government photo ID."
LAX Customer Service Manager, Pamela Cooper is very helpful, but cannot solve this problem. She suggested I contact Ombudsman for help...
TSA requirements for security screenings at airports is, as copied from the TSA website:
"What You Need...his/her airline boarding pass and government-issued photo ID..."
The NEXUS pass is photo ID, issued by Homeland Security as noted in their website...
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/press_release_0025.shtm
Can you please help to educate TSA at LAX as to the validity of the NEXUS pass as valid, government issued photo ID? Or educate we as to why this photo ID is not accepted?
January 30, 2008 12:34 PM
As always, I expect TSA's detractors to take the most negative information away from this blog. Or even to question why TSA is "blogging". But I look forward to reading it, because there is a great deal of public misconceptions about who TSA is, what TSA does, and why the public still needs TSA to fulfill its mission.
Be prepared, Mr. Hawley, for comments both praising and scathing, but which will help you and TSA reconnect with the traveling public in a fruitful relationship.
January 30, 2008 12:34 PM
As a STSO I am happy to see that we are trying to help our fellow Americans and better understand this process. It can be very stressful going through the checkpoint, I am hoping that more passengers and customers find this Blog and better understand us when we ask for their cooperation in screening.
January 30, 2008 12:36 PM
Excellent idea, providing you actually make use of this blog as something other than a propaganda organ. Since this is a government site, moderating comments is almost certainly necessary, if unfortunate. Please allow as many comments as possible to go thru, barring the to-be-expected nuts, spambots, and abusive anti-government types.
Number one rule of blogging: be honest. Don't gladhand thorny issues, speak openly and clearly about them. The more honest and transparent this blog is, the more successful it will be.
The whole thing is a great move!
January 30, 2008 1:32 PM
Why do pilots with guns and air marshalls have to be so public with the walking in through the out?? Read about this in USA Today and loads of people know about it!
January 30, 2008 1:59 PM
I frequently fly to different airports around the country, and I find that some metal detectors are much more sensitive than others. I have a hip replacement, and why, for example, will one scanner let me through and another will not? Aren't these scanners standardized with a similar test items. Sometimes, I doubt if a BB could get past the scanner at some airports. Anyone in TSA care to comment on this?
January 30, 2008 2:24 PM
As a TSO in Wisconsin I believe it is imperative that we all remember that we are people outside of our jobs. This is a good way to make it easier for our passengers to relate to us. We do what we do because WE believe in it and because we want anyone who travels through the U.S. to have less to worry about as they move through their daily/weekly/yearly routine of travel and life.
I certainly believe that this blog can be a good source of information and a bridge to close the gap between the0 misconception and the reality of what airport security is for.
Thanks to ALL who serve @ Airports anywhere TSA serves.
January 30, 2008 2:59 PM
That’s a great question and it’s questions like these why we launched this blog. We’re currently working on several posts to answer this and other common questions like IDs, technology and why we do what we do at the checkpoint. Come back on Friday to check out our post on the top three questions security officers get from passengers.
Meanwhile, if you have an immediate need for answers to travel related questions, you can email them to: tsa-contactcenter@dhs.gov.
Christopher
Evolution Blog Team Member
January 30, 2008 3:09 PM
As a Transportation Security Officer (TSO), I welcome this forum and believe that it will be informative to not only the traveling public but to the employees and leadership of our agency as well. I would also like to say that the majority of the people I see on a daily basis are cooperative and relieved that we are doing what we're doing. Some of them still don't understand the 3-1-1 policy but they cooperate just the same. Our biggest obstacle is the media. They only portray the negative about airport security and rarely do we hear of the positive side of our job. This is an issue that should be addressed so that the media is on the same track as us, and are delivering the most useful information to the public.
January 30, 2008 3:23 PM
As a Transportation Security Officer since 2005, I think this is a great idea. Making public site where passengers and employees can ask each other WHY. I have read some really nasty blogs about us here at TSA, and a lot of them are because people just don't understand, or that they didn't have the time to ask a TSO why, and vice versa. This is going to be a substqantial benefit to making the organization more passenger friendly.
January 30, 2008 3:33 PM
DHS and TSA are fundamentally broken. Disband both immediately and return our civil liberties. Thank goodness Richard Reid did not conceal something in his underpants or these people would be strip-searching every poor grandma from here to Branson. Would someone please explain to these people that putting shoes through an x-ray does not mean they don't contain an explosive? And honestly-- Refusing a valid ID because it is "expired"? Confiscating deodorant and sun block? Does anyone believe that this kabuki security theater really makes us safer? If you guys are serious about your responsibility to protect the country I suggest you start by (1) not cutting off "TSA approved" locks anymore (2) learning and sticking to your own rules and regs especially those pertaining to passengers with medical problems (3) not trying to intimidate anyone who asks for a complaint form and (4) immediately crack down on the threatening screeners who shout "do you want to fly today?" anytime their crazy made-up-on-the-spot orders are questioned by passengers--who in my opinion often know the rules better than the screeners themselves. Oh and by the way your first amendment rights to free speech don't stop when you enter an airport screening area, even at MKE.
January 30, 2008 4:03 PM
How do you expect anyone with more than a 3rd grade education to buy the liquird policy? We all knwo it is scientifically unsound. When can we quit this charade and begin to carry our water and toothpaste with us again?
January 30, 2008 4:26 PM
Let's start with some questions regarding ID:
1. Does an ID have to have an expiration date to be "valid"? My US-Government ID is frequently refused because it doesn't have an expiration date, although it is a "valid, government issued ID". If no expiration date is required, what is my recourse when my ID is refused on said grounds? What rule/procedure/etc. can I ask the TSO to refer to?
2. When using a US passport as ID, is it now required that the TSO look at and review every page and read every visa? A TSO supervisor told me that is the new rule. Was he telling the truth?
3. What is the security benefit of checking ID in the first place? Since ID is NOT required to pass through the checkpoint (if you have no ID, you simply must go through a secondary screening), what, then, is the security benefit of checking ID in the first place? A bad guy will simply claim he/she has no ID.
Certainly the airlines like it for revenue protection, but what makes it a government function? If the answer is to look for 'fraudulent documents', again, what is the SECURITY aspect/benefit as related to keeping bad things off of airplanes? Isn't this just mission creep?
4. In general, what is our recourse as air travelers when a TSO violates SOP regarding acceptable ID, and refuses us access to the secure area?
January 30, 2008 4:26 PM
Another step forward in the evalution of the Agency and improved customer service and security.
January 30, 2008 4:49 PM
I applaud the idea of getting everyone back on the same side. Here's a suggestion for starters: transparency. The implication that the passengers need to remain in the dark and that and TSA policy must remain secret in order to fool the "bad guys" is a naive way to approach security. Share legitimate reasons for the policies and maybe people will agree that they aren't so onerous.
If the idea of getting everyone back on the same side is for the travelling public to bow to the whim of the TSA/DHS without questioning policies then you're asking citizens to forego one of their primary responsibilities in society - to ensure that the government does not abuse its power at the expense of the people.
I look forward to true dialog, not typical rhetoric. I hope it comes to pass.
January 30, 2008 5:03 PM
I have a question, but first some background.
I live in a US territory that has not ratified RealID (Puerto Rico). Soon, my license won't be sufficient to get me on a plane without additional scrutiny.
I have a passport, but I try to avoid flying domestically with it due to the difficulty and length of time required to fly with it.
My question is:
Will the Passport Card being issued by the US State Department be an acceptable identification to board a domestic flight?
Regards,
Robert
January 30, 2008 5:04 PM
Very interesting post. As I posted earlier, come back on Friday and see how we answer the liquids questions and two others we get every single day at checkpoints across the country.
Also, commenting on this blog will NOT get you on any list TSA keeps.
Christopher
TSA Evolution Blog Team
January 30, 2008 5:26 PM
I hope you will use this blog to maintain an open dialogue with serious critics of TSA such as Chris Soghoian. Don't let anonymous comments detract from the possibility of letting government officials speak openly and helpfully to the citizens they serve.
January 30, 2008 5:48 PM
The TSA liquid policy is ludicrous and indefensible. It suggests that 6 oz of liquid can blow up a plane but two 3-oz containers can't. In addition, it was instituted in the wake of an impossible plot--the London bombing plot in 2006 supposedly entailed the manufacture of TATP aboard an aircraft with precursors brought aboard. But, of course, this is impossible. Synthesis of TATP is difficult--as I learned long ago in Chemistry class in a pre-9/11 world--enough in a laboratory, requiring careful control of temperature, and many hours of drying time. It couldn't be done in an airplane lav.
Furthermore, the rule does nothing to prevent collusion. Let's suppose that there's a liquid explosive I can make on board from precursors (there isn't, but we'll pretend). I can carry on a collapsible, nonreactive, watertight container that would hold several gallons. Then, I need a number of collaborators on the same flight, and we can now combine all our 3-oz bottles into the larger container to make an arbitrarily large amount of explosive.
The liquid restrictions are nothing more than a classic CYA move that perpetuates the "security theater" nature of TSA. It does nothing but inconvenience travelers. It serves only to sow fear--essentially doing the terrorists' work for them. It is a way for the government to be seen to "do something" but it accomplishes no useful purpose. It fails to protect against a phantom threat.
Kip has responded to these criticisms before by deflecting them--essentially saying, "There's magic liquid explosives out there, but we can't tell you what they are. Trust us." Trust me. Nobody believes you.
And finally, and most damning of all...like the military, the TSA is preparing to fight the previous war. Terrorists WILL NOT attempt another 9/11. Look at what's happened over the past few years. Every time someone acts up on a plane, passengers gang up and beat the tar out of them. It would be impossible for terrorists to take over a plane for nefarious purposes. 9/11 didn't occur because the terrorists had boxcutters. It occurred because the CONOPS of the time were for the crew to comply with hijackers' demands. The error of this was seen before the attacks had even finished--one of the four hijacked flights figured this out during the attacks.
The liquid restrictions need to be removed. They are pointless, and are a major reason that TSA is the least respected, most hated government agency.
In the interest of full disclosure, I work for DHS.
January 30, 2008 5:57 PM
Why do we have to take our shoes off? Does anyone really believe this is preventing a terrorist act?
January 30, 2008 7:25 PM
I see some really good questions here - especially the "real id" one but dr. anonymous just sounds very angry AND misinformed. Since (s)he works for DHS you'd think they might have access to some decent information.
i_guess_im_on_the_list_now_eh - Jeebus! I'm sitting on my couch right now and I'd like prevent you from getting on an airplane too. You must be PO'd all the time. I'm surprised you even fit in the cabin with the GIANT CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER!!!! Give those folks a break! You think they like being told hundreds of times a day how stupid they are, or how unneccesary their jobs are? Don't use the first amendment as an excuse for a lack of manners!!!
January 30, 2008 8:05 PM
Shoes on or off?? Seems to be different rules at airports.
January 30, 2008 8:05 PM
This is not a product or service promotion. I support everything the TSA is doing and hope to help.
Walking on bare floors without shoes is a source of fungus, bacteria and staph infection. I have invented a machine that will dispense surgical booties directly to passenger feet without bending down to put them on.
This will improve the TSA image to the public, speed up the lines and allow passengers to walk through security without anger and disdain.
January 30, 2008 8:51 PM
Please change your font color to a higher contrast. It is difficult to read text that is very light gray on a white background.
Thank you.
January 30, 2008 8:54 PM
shoes off for sure. This rule is fine. The only problem is can we get some foot booties to help protect us from fungus.
January 30, 2008 8:57 PM
Carrot Top, would you please inform me how I'm misinformed? I will gladly retract anything that's wrong. But everything I've said is correct. TATP cannot be produced on an airplane. The 3-1-1 rule has no effect on the amount of liquid I can accumulate on an airplane. It is nothing more than a way to perpetuate fear in the populace over a terrorist threat (hijacking a plane) that doesn't exist. Please explain what I got wrong.
And yes, I admit I am angry. I'm angry at a system that values making sure I can't have a six-ounce shampoo bottle or a leatherman tool or have to take my shoes off before I board a plane over ensuring that all the cargo in the plane is scanned properly. I'm mad about a system that will actually stop, question, and search a five-year-old just because his name is on the no-fly list (like they couldn't add another column to the list that's "age"?). I'm angry at losing my liberty and the expense of gaining illusory security. You should too.
January 30, 2008 9:10 PM
This Blog will be a challenge; for Kip's voice to be heard through the chatter, for truth to be heard through the questions, and civility to help TSA to change many of it's veiled activities that are called "Security" processes.
TSA cannot and will not provide rationale for shoes and zip-loc bags. It would make more sense to ban 100% of all carry-on material over 24 ounces....
January 30, 2008 9:12 PM
As the wife of a pilot, I thank you for all that you do to keep our planes safe. However, recently my bag was searched, which is fine, but they unzipped a bag that had all my medical supplies in it and did not re-zip it causing everything to fall out all through my suitcase. These items were to remain sterile, and now I have to throw them away. Supplies for diabetes are extremely expensive (if you are not over 65 and on medicare) and I really cannot affford to waste anything. Thanks for relaying my story so that more "checkers" take care in protecting passengers things.
January 30, 2008 9:42 PM
Dear fear mongering air gestapo,
While I appreciate your attempt to tell people that your agency is staffed by human beings with a difficult job, that doesn't mean their job is worthy of respect.
TSA: Preventing implausible threats while unable to cope with tests for real ones, all the while saying "papers please" and destroying America.
January 30, 2008 9:44 PM
as a passenger (and particularly one who flies over 100,000 miles a year, i have some questions directed to the "shoes off policy". i wear (and have to wear) orthopedic shoes and custom fitted orthotics as a result of ankle surgery and my question is simple....
why do the tsa's own policies differ from airport to airport? there are tsa procedures in place as to how to deal with pax who cannot take off their shoes but repeatedly they are ignored, misconstrued, or made up by the tsa employees on duty with the addition that more than 50% of the screeners i come in contact with do not know the definition of the word "orthotics". i have been threatened with "do i want to fly today" to "do you want me to call a cop"(both at JFK UA) yet to also go to other extreme, the screeners at my home airport (SFO-United terminal) have it down pat.
simply put, you need to have ALL airports follow THE SAME rules (including the ADA and FRPA and HIPPA) and screener s and supes need to know what they can and cannot ask. if you want to see record clearance times (and trust me, i know what i'm talking about as operational efficiency has been my career for 30 years, the whole key to line mgmnt is to have it done the SAME ACROSS THE BOARD with all TSA employees not only having a complete understanding of privacy laws but also a basic grasp of customer service techniques and the english language (case in point: lax t-7 ua terminal footbridge on sunday, january 20, 2007 approx 9pm. i told the screener i was wearing orthopedic shoes and orthotics and i was presented with "what?, your shoes have to come off". this was followed by my repeating that i was wearing orthopedic shoes and orthotics which was met with the response of" "supervisor, he be wearing ortho something or others and don't want to take his shoes off". as you can see, this is not a grammatically correct comment and n.b. i wne thru the very same terminal and checkpoint just over 36 hours before and did not have a problem.
January 30, 2008 10:23 PM
In its current form, this blog is beyond useless.
It's just a huge pile of random comments, only some of whose questions or comments are half-addressed many, many posts later.
It really should be a proper forum with separate sections with individual topics so people can actually find useful information. You could never find anything if you tried.
Did you people spend more than ten minutes planning this?
January 30, 2008 10:49 PM
I think the liquid ban should end. It totally seems to be window dressing and frustrates travelers.
So should the shoe removal requirement. Alot of elderly people have trouble taking shoes on and off. Why does the TSA feel explosives are only hidden in shoes?
January 30, 2008 10:57 PM
I think it was Bruce Schneier who pointed out the three things that have been done since 9/11 to make air travel safer: (1) reinforced cockpit doors; (2)passengers who will now fight back; and (maybe)(3) sky marshals.
Checking IDs does not make travel safer. In fact, it is often possible to fly without an ID -- witness John Gilmore's no-ID Airport Challenge. But just try to get a TSA official to admit this. In fact, those without ID CAN fly -- if more extensively searched. Fair enough. But don't tell me that a valid ID is a substitute for a thorough search. That just doesn't make any sense.
That is part of the problem. The rules under which travelers are required to give up their privacy to government officials are kept secret. This puts way too much power in the hands of the screeners, with inconsistent application. Those that are made apparent -- the liquids ban, shoe removal -- are silly, don't make any sense, and certainly don't materially increase the safety of the millions who are forced to endure that nonsense every day.
So while I am interested to see how this blog develops, given the knee-jerk reaction of the TSA every time some new threat is perceived, I'm not optimistic that it will result in any real change. Remember the London bomb plot that resulted in the liquid ban? That was known to authorities for months before the August 2006 arrests, but it was not until the arrests that the liquid bans were put in place. If explosive liquids were truly a danger, why not begin the ban earlier? Because it was the PERCEPTION of the threat that the TSA reacted to, not the threat itself.
January 30, 2008 11:21 PM
I'd love to see some consistency between airports. I'm an engineer who often has to fly with Allen keys and wrenches. Now that security lines have become so ridiculously long and slow, I avoid checking bags whenever possible to save time. I can depart with my allens no prob, but then on the way home suddenly they're not okay. Each one was held up to a ruler and it was determined that the largest one could be a deadly weapon, but not the second largest.
On another training note, it says right on the renewal form for drivers licenses that the form plus the expired license is acceptable ID for air travel, but I almost missed a flight as the TSA agent refused to accept that ID and refused to get a supervisor and threatened to have me arrested when I disagreed with him. It will be a great day when defending oneself doesn't automatically make one a terrorist.
January 30, 2008 11:49 PM
As a frequent flyer who started living in the US and flying from US airports a couple of years ago, there are a few things I don't understand:
1. Why does one have to remove their shoes at TSA airport security screening? Do screening machines at foreign airports work better?
2. Why is it that at almost every screening, I see TSA employees hanging around doing nothing while there are security lanes cordoned off and queues building up? A little bit of operations management seems to be needed.
3. Why do TSA employees have to loudly yell to no one in particular exactly what is posted on several signs around the screening area and announced on the airport PA system regarding security rules? A little bit of politeness and respect for travelers seems to be needed.
January 30, 2008 11:58 PM
As a LTSO I have very proud to work for TSA. I understand that some of the passengers do not like taking off their shoes or surrendering their toothpaste, however, there are many passengers that thank us for what we do. We must all remember that 9/11 happened and we are just trying to make the air safe for everyone. Flying is not a right granted under the Bill of Rights and due to the state of the world today, we must all make smart decisions. I am proud of what we do and what we represent. Thank you Mr. Hawley!!
January 31, 2008 12:14 AM
I don't know why the TSA makes the "official" liquid policy so ambiguous. Seasoned travellers know that you can have up to 3.4 oz (100ml), not just 3.0 oz. however, no where on the TSA website or anywhere else in publications is it noted. Why cant you be consistent and write 3.4 oz (100 ml). We do all know how to read labels, and can apply this rule better if we know for sure what it is.
January 31, 2008 12:16 AM
Why do airline crew need to go through security? It is pointless and takes up time.
January 31, 2008 12:20 AM
blah, blah, blah, blah
what a waste of fricken
money. We don't need you
people to stop another 911,
americans won't sit by next
time. But the extreme you
people took it to is so
fricken stupid. Really, what good have you done?
January 31, 2008 12:27 AM
kip,
There is free technology available to protect passengers from virus and disease when going through the security screening. You currently use rubbermaid tubs that crack and are filthy. People that are sick or have blood from on them are using these tubs daily. There are silver based bio-inert liners available at relatively no cost or free if advertising is printed on them. Why doesn't the agency test them out. This technology has been available for a while.
January 31, 2008 12:28 AM
The TSA has been reactionary from the start. The shoe thing, the liquid thing, what's next? We are being checked by very low paid employees and I personally don't feel any safer knowing the TSA screeners are pawing through my underware. We are being told that they are looking out for issues that so secret that they can't even tell us. That is not true. I've been in the air transport industry for many years and go through the same training. This is smoke and mirrors. If we want results, ask the Israelis. They know how to do it.
January 31, 2008 12:34 AM
I lived in NYC on 9/11. I always thank my TSA screeners -- even when they take away the moisturizer my dermatologist said I needed, which doesn't come in 3-oz containers -- because I appreciate their efforts to do their jobs and keep us safe. And I thank all the National Guard folks patrolling the airports. Y'all have a tough and generally thankless job. We don't hear much about your successes -- if security had prevented the 9/11 hijackers from boarding their planes, we wouldn't have had huge page-1 articles saying, "The World Trade Center didn't fall down today, thanks to the work of security agents in Boston and New York." You can't see the tragedies that were prevented. Thank you for what you do.
January 31, 2008 12:35 AM
Glad to see our friend “I_guess_I'm_on_the_List_now_eh” has graced this blog with the flyertalk.com/lp.org talking points memo he so mindlesly chants like the "sheeple" he supposedly rails against. Well, at least we all know who he is so we can all move past his meaningless rabble and self proclaimed expert opinions based upon his 5-10 minutes of waiting at the checkpoint for his $39 southwest fun fare.
January 31, 2008 12:38 AM
I've been wary of the TSA since the Ryan Bird incident. $4.7 billion, and this is the best you can do?
Whenever most of us encounter the TSA, we're in a position of weakness; we need to make flights or make connections. I personally have had good encounters with the security personnel. People have been professional and courteous. But my experience is small, and the country is wide.
But surely I'm not alone in feeling that the latitude granted to security agencies after 9/11 was overbroad. Everyone knows that you're never going to remove these limitations. Why would the TSA allow for its own obsolescence? Security theater is too good of a business.
I still can't accompany people to the gate at my hometown airport. The liquid rule. If I write "Kip Hawley is an Idiot" on my luggage, will I be detained and questioned? I'm banned from bringing a knife on board -- but I can buy a bottle of Jack Daniels and smash it on the floor, and I've got a good weapon, haven't I?
Why do your people sleep on the job? Why do you search down grandmothers? Why is it that the Bill of Rights no longer applies to us? Why do you sell what you confiscate from us?
Finally, why are you hiring thieves to go through our personal possessions? You can't dismiss all of the critiques of your agency as media distortion. Everyone has a story.
I doubt this'll make your blog. Knowing your reputation, I'm wary of even attaching my name. But someone has to speak up about this stuff.
I'm a citizen of this country. If I follow its laws, so should the government. You've got nobody but yourselves to blame for your image problems.
I appreciate an open forum, but you have a long way to go.
January 31, 2008 12:38 AM
As far as I'm concerned, Kip is the real terrorist, using fabricated threats to justify this government workfare program.
So my question, why do TSA scum make up rules? For example, an item that is stolen at one checkpoint might easily be allowed at another, even after it is looked at? Yet when you mention something to the scum stealing the item, you receive either "do you want to fly today" or "the rules have changed."
Another question: after the TSA steals a bottle of wine or liquor, do they take them home to enjoy or do the very dangerous bottles just sit in a trash can?
January 31, 2008 12:40 AM
From this blog's T&C: "In addition, we expect that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect."
Hmmm, would that be the same respect that TSA agents mistreat the traveling public with every second?
January 31, 2008 12:43 AM
The TSA acknowledges its place as our most disliked public agency.
ID checks don't make flying safer - they only serve as revenue protection for the airlines. Binary explosives are impossible to accomplish in an aircraft environment. Screeners have an abysmal record at detecting test objects in carryon baggage. Shoes are not a unique or special threat. Not one terrorist or actual explosive has been detected by your agency.
Why should we continue to pay your salary given this record?
January 31, 2008 12:45 AM
I think the TSA needs to take some lessons from Disneyland on people flow, line queueing and general process flow. Airports are inconsistent on staffing for ID checks versus going through xray. In PDX, MSP, DTW, LGA, LAS to name a few I see 1 or 2 agents looking at ID's and a 30+ minute queue while the lines to go through xray are non existent and I see TSA agents looking bored waiting for people to make it through the ID check line. I'm all for security but really hate inefficiency and wasting time when there are better ways. What are you doing to address this?
January 31, 2008 12:46 AM
The TSA is a deceptive joke promoted by a government that is out of control and inept - Very little has been implemented in the US since 911 when compared to the leading airports in the world.
Fact: Following 911 the nation's business 22 airports were given millions (each, some more than others totaling in the Billions $$) to implement the latest security technology for airports.
Today, 5-6 later, this money cannot be accounted for and zilch was implmented.
Cargo is still not completely screened.
The US government is now corrupt, $broke$, and run by criminals in the administration and Congress. Every politician is either supported by Energy/Oil, Telecommunications,Pharmaceuticals and major health care providers, finanical institutions.....
Remember, every country gets the government it deserves.
It is estimated it will take a minimum of ten years to integrate all of the sub-entities absorbed by Homeland Security.
The director, Chertoff, might not be able to run most small businesses in the US.
Bush's grandfather, Prescott, profited from investments with I. G. Farbin in Germany. They made Zyclon-B gas for the concentration camps, and their CEO was brought before Nuremburg.
For those of you who fly...remember the morning of 911? What did the tactless and stupid government do? They shut off all the TV's at the nations airports so we couldn't see what was going on in New York.
This is not a criticsm of TSA employees. For the most part, they are firendly and courtesous in their conducting a thankless job as their job description calls for.
January 31, 2008 12:50 AM
Most Of the TSA people that I've came in contact are reasonable. I travel every 28 days overseas and my biggest problem is some TSA make me pull out different things an will not aloud me to take on plane and some say it's not a problem. Point, I had two bolltes of after shave lotion, one under the 3oz and one used 4oz The frist airport justmade me put it in a plastic bag and another removed it all together saying it wasn't aloud. It seem that it's mostly up to the TSA agent at the time what they consider what you can take or not.
January 31, 2008 12:52 AM
So how does forcing us to remove our shoes make us any safer?
January 31, 2008 12:52 AM
As a former Las Vegas airport employee, I have seen the best and the worst of the screeners.
There are a few who are outgoing and positive but the vast majority seem to be just drawing a paycheck and couldn't care less about their surroundings.
Realisticly, why are there so many obese, loud-mouthed, rude and semi-mobile screeners anyway.
You would expect that the screeners would be pros, not just one step above Wal-Mart greeters
sorry Wal-Mart greeters
January 31, 2008 12:55 AM
I have a question. If it's so important that we take off our shoes when we go through airport security, why isn't it equally important that my baby take off his diaper? He could be hiding anything in there.
January 31, 2008 12:58 AM
AS a person in a uniformed service and FREQUENT traveler I ahve a question for the TSA folks.
I travel in uniform alot (with my gov't ID and official passport!!!!) and I am always stopped going throught the detectors. I know this seems obvious to most but there is a lot of metal in my uniform. Ribbons, shirt stays (my personal pet peeve), and name badges all set off the detector even after removing my belt, shoes, coat, etc. I spent nearly an hour (45 minutes actually) in Orlando trying to explain shirt stays!!!!!
I could not think of a lower threat person than someone in uniform, with proper ID. Can't you give us some help? I ahve to plan an extra hour to travel in uniform. Just seems silly. Not to state the obvious, but in your own public tests you let bomb materials thoguth but you wast 3 screeners and a supervisor to figure out what a shirt stay is!!!
January 31, 2008 12:59 AM
You know, I've travelled three times in recent months, in July, at Christmas, and just a week ago. Security was no problem whatsoever anywhere. The worst part of each experience was the air travel itself, delays, dirty planes, surly gate and flight personnel, and unreliable schedules.
It seems to me that the airlines have only themselves to blame if they're hurting. I'm 45 and have been flying commercially since I was an infant and it used to be nice. You dressed up and were on your best behavior. It was fun. Now it's awful and unpleasant. Every time I get home I say I'm done, I'm not flying any more.
Ironically, I find it has been relatively painless to adapt to the security procedures. Know what to check and what to carry on and how, plan on the additional time, and just get with the program. It's not really that hard. I've lost a couple of items over the years and I don't like taking my shoes off, etc., but I know what needs to happen and do it and haven't had a problem in a long time. I know there is some element of luck in there somewhere, but since I'm never flying again ;-) I'd say I came out ahead.
The airports I've been through are LAX, Las Vegas, and Colorado Springs. The airlines are United and US Airways.
January 31, 2008 1:01 AM
As a fairly infrequent traveler (but a trained commercial pilot), I think there are a few problems most travelers have with the current security system. The primary issue is quite clearly that the TSA has not empowered its personnel to use either logic or commonsense in the screening of its passengers.
As far as I can determine, there are generally only three groups that require anything more than cursory screening by security at all: (1) Celebrities (who seem to travel with drugs and guns an awful lot); (2) the drunk and disorderly, who don't typically carry dangerous objects but who do threaten the safety of a flight; and (3) Muslim males traveling by themselves. Let's face it, we can be as PC as we want, but the truth is quite obviously that Muslim males pose the greatest (perhaps only legitimate) threat to our national transportation system. Even so, there has never been a case where a Muslim male traveling with family has been involved in a terrorist incident (on board an aircraft anyway), so we can also exclude Muslim males traveling with family. So why then does TSA spend so much of its time fruitlessly searching the average parent traveling with little kids; the elderly; females; Asians; etc., etc. No one standing on an airport screening line cares about fairness - ie: screening everyone the same or not at all. A 60 year old Asian male does not pose a threat and should not be searched like a 30 year old middle-eastern male. If you want to do the right thing, instruct your personnel to use their commonsense and logic in making such a determination. Don't throw PC nonsense at us as a basis for such a policy.
Secondly, I think the general public fairly and accurately has assessed your security personnel at the gates as being little more than junior high school graduates. Most of them are completely clueless about what the latest TSA regs are, leading to the obvious conclusion that they don't know their job. Under such a circumstance, what confidence should the general public have that the person screening our carry-ons can even spot a dangerous item? Frankly, you often hear comments from other travelers while waiting that these security personnel are not much better trained than the person who served you your coffee a few minutes earlier. Perhaps the TSA can do something to at least make us think that their screeners have a clue.
Finally, and connected to my previous point, it is quite evident to anyone who has traveled recently, that there is way too much inconsistency in your security procedures. On one round trip flight recently, I was allowed to carry on a certain item by the TSA screeners, only to be told on the return trip by a screener in a different airport that I couldn't take it. When I informed him that the prior screeners at my home airport said it was ok, I was told in no uncertain terms that those guys didn't know what they were talking about. I don't know or care who was right or wrong, but you clearly have a major deficiency in your employee knowledge base.
January 31, 2008 1:02 AM
I am a spouse of a pilot and travel frequently in the southwest. Each Airport (LA, Vegas, Tucson, San Francisco, Phoenix, Salt Lake City...etc) seems to choose which rules to enforce. Some what the plastic bags out, shoes on, some don't care.
Consistency is what everyone is asking for.
We're tired of guessing what airport will enforce which rules.
As per the liquid ~ I believe most people think it's a conspiracy to make beverage companies more profitable.
Shoes- isn't there a better way?
Wouldn't it be easier just to limit carry on to purses, backpacks (diaper bags etc) No more rollers. This would strongly reduce the wait times at check areas, and even further limit what can make it's way through?
Glad to see this blog. Thanks!
January 31, 2008 1:02 AM
The DHS and TSA are ridiculous. Field testers get fake bombs and other test items through all the time. The only thing you guys are good at is making us all feel like we are in tremendous danger and thus the fear should keep us from acting up. Maybe you ought to go back to the days where you asked, "Did you pack your own bags today?"...that might be less ridiculous that your current procedures.
January 31, 2008 1:12 AM
I would like to know how you can be randomly chosen for extra security search/questioning every time you fly???? My wife is a foreign national of a country that we have a very good relationship with. Namely Poland. I find it somewhat upsetting that every time she flies, on every leg of the trip she has to check in, she is randomly chosen for extra search and questioning. I feel this is something that needs to be addressed. The fact is, there was a certain group of people who were responsible for the terrorist attacks which caused this increased security and I have no problem if that group is held more closely under a microscope. I know some say that is profiling but it is the truth. There was not a single catholic,Norman, black , white, Mexican, Frenchman or any other group that did that horrible act. So we should not candy coat why and who we are specifically searching. But to say it is random to everyone and think we as Americans are so stupid that we actually buy that is a farce in itself. Please answer me this, why is it so bad to look at the facts and accept them for just that....facts?? I would love to know why my wife is singled out when she is a productive, law abiding member of this country whom does not fall into the category of those who truly want to harm our country? Lets call a spade a spade folks and give the American people some credit. Maybe if we focused more of our efforts and resources on the true group of people we should be looking for, then maybe we can honestly say that our airports, airplanes, sky and nation are indeed safer. I think there are many Americans out there whom feel the same as I do but are afraid to admit it because this has become a nation which looks to punish or ostracize those whom make a factual point if it against a specific group of people or a specific religious group. Please protect our airports, not our consciences.
January 31, 2008 1:12 AM
Traveling through Chicago I set off the metal detactor. I'm an almost 60 year female. I stopped dead in my tracts, afraid of what I had done. The TSA lady (??) barked at me worse way than how I talk to my large dog. All she kept yelling at me was, "BACK!" I'm not that used to traveling and didn't know what she meant. Why cannot you not talk to us as if we are 'people'? You say that you yourselves are people...I doubt that!
January 31, 2008 1:20 AM
Man,
I really do not know why so many people have an issue with this. I have never in my history of flying ever not been stopped for a extra security screening. I do not fly anywhere I can drive to in 6 hours or less. Even before September 11th I never made a screening without getting the all amusing B.S. we are performing a random screening sir. I have even stood by a screening station afterwards on numerous occasions and I can attest random means targeted. Get used to it because in over 10 years of flying I have never been let through easily and don't even bring check in baggage anymore just so it is easier to be searched. That being said, As long as we have airports get ready for more of you to enjoy my favorite part of flying!!!! The security stop.
January 31, 2008 1:21 AM
As a police officer working at a midwest airport, the thing that irks myself and the other officers is the attitude of some of the screeners. There are some that are on a real power trip. They seem to delight in bullying any passengers that might question their reason for doing certain things. They like to come across as having the sole power and authority to let that person on that flight. I have personally complained to Screening Supervisors and Screening Managers about the attitude of certain Screeners but to no avail. If I had a citizen complain to my superiors about my attitude I can assure you I would hear about it!
January 31, 2008 1:21 AM
Kip/.
here is my personal opinion and observation.
TSA rushed to hire any warm body off the street or worse, from the airlines as the airlines were cutting their worst dead wood.
TSA hired 5 or 6 SENIOR level dumb. dumb.dumb people from Miami that used to work for UNITED.
These people are vile and morally corrupt. I know for a fact.
You want TSA to be respected.. haha.. you hired the wrong people, you hired the people the airlines discarded because they are dead wood.
you have a nice day Kip
January 31, 2008 1:21 AM
I have a personal interest in knowing that the TSA doesn't trap false positives in an identity check -- a man with my name was taped leaving a military base with anthrax several years ago, but the search was called off when the trail led to Israel, so he's still at large.
As other posters have noted, much of what the TSA does has more value as 'security theater' than as a way to protect either travelers or aircraft. Gaining compliance to arbitrary rules can be a small part of the larger task of getting the citizens of this country to accept the constant stream of lies and deceptions promulgated by the government on behalf of corporate sponsors and disseminated by a complicit media, as demonstrated recently on 60 Minutes.
Shrouding the rationale behind such actions as stopping groups of travelers at LAX and insisting that they remain still for 20 minutes (as reported at boingboing.com) is an open invitation for such acts to be used against the very people they may have been meant to safeguard. I wrote a short story called "Incident on Concourse B" to illustrate this risk of mischief, and to show how serious a problem it could invite. If you're interested, you can read it at klurgsheld.com.
January 31, 2008 1:26 AM
I fly about 3 round trips/year, Seattle to east coast. Once I am in Boston, all the rest of my travels are by rail, since the security hassles have made any trip under 550/600 miles longer by air than by rail.
Two specific incidents come to mind. The first was at LAX. There was a long line going up and around to the security station. People were bunching up as the area was wide. Down below a fat, and I mean fat, TSA agent was bellowing like a drill sargent to the crowd ordering them to get in four lines. The guy was probably too fat and and out of condition to go up and address the problem at hand.
The second was a woman in Seattle with leg braces on both legs. In spite of the fact that she was wearing shorts and the braces were fully exposed, TSA made her remove the braces and stumble through the magnetometer.
Regarding the restrictions on gels, please remember that the CIA over 20 years ago gave that Venezualan agent (Posada?) a tube of toothpaste to blow up a Cuban air liner. Why did it take the Department of Bureaucratic Terrorism so long to find out about this technique, and then learned it from the Brits?
I remain firmly convinced that the entire airport security exercise is nothing more than to A) impress the public how much Bush/Cheney is doing, and B) continue the scare tactics that the administration has practiced ever since 9/11. As I mentioned to one agent, they will never catch Osama this way. He doesn't wear shoes.
And that leads to another problem. Invariably, there are few or no chairs to use while putting shoes on again. I'm just unstable enough that I need to sit down to put on my shoes.
January 31, 2008 1:28 AM
I went from Seattle to the Dominican Republic via Houston with my used camp stove in my luggage. I had washed out the fuel bottle (a gasoline stove) and blown out the pump with an air compressor. No gasoline at all remaining. i did not use the stove while camping in the D.R. and had no problem with security in Santo Domingo on my return flight. But when going through security to board my connecting flight at New York, the TSA person looked at my stove and said, "This is used, right?" I said, "Yes, I've had it for several years." The TSA person said, "It's had gasoline in it at some time in the past." And then confiscated it. So I can buy a new stove to go camping overseas ($120!) but I have to throw it away before I can come home? This sort of experience leads to my present very negative feelings about TSA and air travel.
January 31, 2008 1:37 AM
Since I have an extensive amount of metal in my leg I know that I will set off the "bells" so I prepare for the inspection and do not mind it. I usually ask for a female assist before I go through the scan and tell them why. My only problem is that I am then separated from my laptop and carry on luggage, shoes and coat [usually 4 containers worth] which are coming down the belt with at least 2 or 3 other passengers picking up their things. In St Louis I lost a coat and in Chicago I had a man try to walk off with my laptop. Can there be a better way for those of us who need to bee screened further to have better security on our personal items which I for one keep a very watchful eye on while I am being wanded? The security personnel are usually very busy helping others while my things are just sitting there in the open. I have asked for my personal items to be brought to where I am being searched and some of the personnel have been nice enough to do that however it is not uniform and something that is a major concern for me. I would not care if they were searched for I comply to the rules but being separated from my personal items for sometimes 5 minutes at a time is scary.
January 31, 2008 1:40 AM
TSA staff are often rude and fail to explain an ything when asked.
We passengers get to the airports following TSA guidelines for early arrival. TSA employees CANNOT promptly process passengers and must frequently be told that passengers for soon to depart flights must be processed immediately and reluctantly move people up in line.
One incident from SFO truly relates to employee incompetence. An elderly crippled woman weighing over 250 lbs with both an aluminum walker plus aluminum crutches caused one line to completely stop. The TSA employee had to call for assistance and seemed oblivious that the rest of us in line could bypass her and make or flights. I was personally threatened with deliberate delay to miss my flight. I replied that if I did miss my flight I would criminally prosecute the TSA employee for an unlaful detention. Made the flight with 5 minutes to spare.
There are NEVER any chairs for someone to sit in when we are required to remove our shoes. We must go through security and then there is a chair. This is backwards.