Do you think the TSA is doing a good job?
What is your most memorable TSA experience? Have you been stopped over suspicious items? Have you been screened and rescreened? Have you been hassled for no good reason? Share your story.
#1 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 12:41 PM ESTThe words that strike feear into the heart of a regular traveler...some bored TSA person yelling MAN CHECK!!!! after you have waited and undressed to go through the line for an hour. Then they take your bag apart usually finding nothing or in my case the qualifying tube of toothpaste that much have looked bigger than it was. Using the same pair of rubber gloves they used on the bags before they handle your bag to a machine where they then use those same contaminated gloves to swab your bag for nasty things. Dont ever park your bag near your grill lighter fluid is all I can tell you. They are rude, loud, insensitve ( I recently in Memphis watched them haul what was surely a 90 year old woman from her chair and basically feel her breasts before deciding publically and loudly UNDERWIRE! They delay you, remind me of people who wanted to be a cop but couldnt make it, and I do not feel safer at all. Recently in England I was stunned at how much more thorough and speedy the checks were and with no obvious false readings from their scanners while I was in line.
My view is one that agrees with the very need of the screening process of TSA. Thank God Pres. Bush created an agency that has had a very positive effect in curtailing harm and injury to Americans. When I travel via the airways I know that I can feel secure and free from worry that anything will happen on my flight. Look at the record of TSA and its efforts. Many many thing that are not allowed on planes have been confiscated during the seven years of TSA screening. Things that people KNOW isn't allowed yet they still try to get on the plane with them.
Regarding the Liquid, aerosol and gel rule...remember, that policy was implimented because of the very real event planned in England using our own airlines as the delivery vehicles to kill American on American soil. People tend to either forget or just plain disregard these facts. Most likely the latter.
All of you that do nothing but complain probably because you feel you have nothing better to do...grow up! The screening process is for you. Not the enemy. It is there so we can have a safer flight to our destinations. It is a process born of the attack our nation suffered through at the hands of those with absolutely no regard for human life. By the dogs that kill themselves in order to kill the innocents of society. To eradicate your freedoms, your loves, your lives as you know them and to propel man back into the dark ages.
So, with that 'spoken', thank you TSA for being there for all of us!
No static defense will ever be effective against an agile enemy. Look at the Israilies. The whole world wants nothing more than to wipe them off the face of the earth, they have to get right every time. What do they do? Interview. Our random selectionwill never be as effective as their profiling.
Why would the 'terrorists' bother with airplanes now anyhow? They know that if they tried to take over a plane again the people onboard would stop them. Explosives?? Why bother to take them on the plane, when all they have to do is blow themselves up in the middle of the terminal. Our government is reactive to terrorism, when they should be proactive.
You want to stop them from taking over planes??? Put an override on the oxygen mask system in the back, and make the cabin door more secure. Then if somebody starts something? Depressurize the back and put everyone to sleep.
My 3 yo granddaughter was wanded thoroughly from head to toe-there were metallic threads in her "Barbie" socks!
My husband flying back from a fire in full government uniform, badge, name bage, gov't picture id, etc was tracked because he had a one-way ticket--well duh, kind of hard to get a round trip, when one doesn't know when a fire will be contained! He appears at the security gate and the agent yells loudly to the others "Here he is!" The 2 staples in his notebook set off the metal detector--but they didn't find this until he was practically naked in the line! 2 staples!
The screening process is for you. Not the enemy.
Then why are safe,concerned people being treated like the enemy?
It is there so we can have a safer flight to our destinations. It is a process born of the attack our nation suffered through at the hands of those with absolutely no regard for human life.
How many attacks in the last 80 years of commercial air travel have there been? How many Americans are out to harm the rest of us? This all merely the use of fear by our high-handed government to control its people,as it slowly works its way into our homes and lives. Your seriously foul attitude shows how you blindly follow whatever path you're told to.
There appear to be serious personnel problems and issues at the TSA and the FAA. I mention personnel because it is with and through personnel that everything gets done or not done or done right or wrong. This is but another episode of a lapse in personnel behavior or misconduct by supposedly trained federal employees or contracted employees. Where is the oversight? What is in place to ensure appropriate conduct at these agencies is the rule? Sounds like a lack of basic training and understanding. On top of it all, the employees involved in this episode have all been given paid vacations at taxpayer expense. They are not having to use annual leave, instead the taxpayers are paying for this? Why because the TSA does not employ experienced HR Specialists who could investigated and closed the case within 72 hrs along with recommended disciplinary actions including termination. But no, instead TSA will take weeks to complete yet another investigation while the alleged employees are all on paid vacations! What a disaster!
#2 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 1:09 PM ESTThe TSA is nothing more than a high priced imposition on the public. I am not convinced that the airport screening practices they employ are beneficial or necessary. The TSA is not good enough and never will be to stop a determined terrorist. The TSA is little more than window dressing to con a naive and gullible public into believing they are keeping them safe. If you believe that the TSA's presence explains why there have been no more in-flight terror acts I've got a bridge to sell you.
#3 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 1:49 PM ESTIt doesn't really matter whether or not you are convinced of anything. Just be thankful you are allowed to fly.
You must work for the TSA, only a transportation safety a-hole, would say something like "Just be thankful you are ALLOWED to fly." That type of statement is indicative of the whole attitude of the TSA and is the very reason that the organization is an affront to Americans. Illegal search and seizure is banned by the Constitution, but the mainstay of the TSA. So much for the rights of the american citizen, when we have people like you to defend our freedoms. I know, I should be thankful that you and the TSA allow me to live and work in this country, so I can pay taxes to keep you employed.
I agree Steve22327. Other posts by RMW-615693 indicate he must work for TSA.
Completely ridiculous process that we call "security." We are being sold a perception of security through incompetence and inconvenience.
TSA has a tough job to do and lots of what they do or don't do is mandated by congress. Then there is the customer service aspect and not impacting flights...yet many people don't bother to read and follow directions or check out the TSA website for guidance, thereby causing unnecessary delays. There are lots of staffers that are decicated and care about security...but the rewards are few. There are also those that knowing rewards are few, do the bare minimum and rely on the inertia of government to keep them in their jobs. Just as there are good cops and bad cops, and good MVA employees and bad...TSA is no different, other than it's massive inability to keep it's nose clean and out of the news. I am neither a present or past TSA or FAA employee.
#4 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 1:49 PM ESTI do not believe that you belong on this blog section. You make too much common sense.
Some of us check out the guidelines, do things properly, and are still accosted and told we're doing it wrong. I even printed out the instructions from the website and highlighted the pertinent part (about being able to take larger than 2 oz. of saline and the way you were able to do it). And they disregarded their OWN rules printed on their OWN website and took my saline solution anyway (leaving me on a 7 hour flight without any saline solution).
Following their (rather arbitrary, rather stupid) rules is meaningless when they have idiots working for them who disregard them to do what they want.
I follow the rules, carry a retired military ID, travel frequently and get pulled aside EVERYTIME I fly for "Random Checks". I have people who have never served question my military ID. These little gestapo do nothing for security and those who say they are keeping me safe and that by Bush instituting a Gestapo in the US we are safer I would simply point out that the USSR used to tout that they were the safest country in the world, and they were. Me I prefer more risk and more freedom send the gestapo away and let me stop having to show my papers (and more and more of my fat bare body) to travel within my own country!
I have never enjoyed flying after 9/11 when the TSA was created. Recently I tried to take my favorite shaving cream on a trip and NO I had to throw it away. I was so angry with these rude people that are part of TSA in Ontario, Ca., I was detained to speak to a supervisor. He was just as rude and I told him that the TSA "SUCKS". I was told that I was entitled to my opinion. If you have an opportunity to see your Boarding Pass or ticket, look for the charge for take off and landings. It is somewhere near $3.60 per person for one Take Off and Landing. Multiple Take Offs and Landings that we see for most flights is standard operating procedure. That is sent directly to the FEDS. We are taxed to death. Check the Federal Tax on a Gallon of Gasoline. It is $0.184 per gallon and think of the number of gallons we consumers all over the U.S. spend every day. Think of the Fuel Tax for commercial aircraft. Then look at the services we receive. No wonder there are Tea Parties in the U.S. I can hardly wait until I can wear my shoes to the flight I have purchased and not be harrassed by people that are hired by TSA for their lack on intelligence. We are also paying their Admistrative Leave. I recently placed a bumper sticker on one of my cars; it reads "OBAMA-CARE bend over and cough".
#5 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 2:04 PM EST@!$%#! You know the size of the containers you can take through the checkpoint! Shut the hell up and get over it. It was YOUR FAULT they took it! It was YOU that tried to bring it through, dirtbag! Tney did their job, they got you!
While no fan of the TSA, i disagree with your comments, especially about taxes. You sound like a typical conservative, i want but i don't want to pay. You are in a multi-million dollar airport flying in a multi-billion dollar aviation system.
User fees and targeted taxes are the best form of taxes, those who use, pay. You drive? Pay for the pavement. You fly? Pay for the airport.
What does Obama have to do with the TSA, which, by your own admission, was created after 9/11 under Bush?
TSA provides Security Theater, not security. They are there, because politicians needed to be seen to be Doing Something. I feel secure in European airports with transparent trash receptacles and Gendarmes and Carabinieri carrying automatic rifles, where I get to keep my shoes on.
Regarding another's comment about travelers reading the TSA guidelines: I'll be happy and amazed when the TSA employees start doing so. I have seen many instances of screeners confiscating items specifically allowed under their own guidelines and published on their website (e.g. corkscrews with no foil cutter, knitting needles, etc.) At most US airports, it appears that the TSA screeners are working for TSA, because the Burger King in the food court won't have them.
#7 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 2:16 PM ESTThe TSA changes the rules to keep everyone off balance,2 oz of toothpaste could be switched with thermite. An IED (inexpenive explosive device) could be put on-board by the airline cargo handlers and no one would be the wiser. The flying public has no clue what kind of cargo they are sitting above,the airlines aren't even screening 100% of the cargo,yet. Even if airlines do screen the cargo,the screening machines lack the capability to accurately screen,and its still left up to some employee getting $12/hr to decide if its hazardous or not.
Meanwhile,as the Feds are busy looking at the passengers,terrorists are looking at other methods to cripple the USA. Via financial ruin,polluting water & air,food etc. The major problem is deciding which ones are terrorists and politicians.
How do you gauge it? Is this latest gaffe one in ten or one in one million?
#8 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 2:28 PM ESTSimple solution to air security: everyone flies naked, with guns.
#9 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 2:57 PM ESTAre you crazy? Have you seen the average american lately? Would you really want to sit next to it naked for several hours. I'd use the gun to kill myself.
Consider the people who are hired by security firms. May or may not be U. S. citizens, willing to work for low wage, Government supervised, steal your luggage, etc.
#10 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 4:12 PM ESTDon't get me started. I worked for TSA for a year and I haven't flown since. I could sit here for hours telling horror stories but what's the point. If TSA is typical of a government run operation, we are doomed. The only people that should get a sense of security, from TSA being on the job, are would be terrorists. If the screeners were allowed to carry guns, half of them would shoot someone for having a toothpick in their pocket. The other half wouldn't care if you had a carryon full of hand grenades.
#11 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 5:06 PM ESTYou're a liar! Anybody can tell by your comment that you have never been a TSA employee. Man you are a joke!
What a joke .... rude, uneducated, boorish people ( usually minorities ) whose sole objective is to harras people and make the flying process as uncomfortable as possible.
Dump your bottle of water ( no matter that you offer to drink some in front of them ) and then buy another inside the secure aea at three times the normal price and of course we all know that every bottle of water delivered by the vendors to the airport concessions has definitely been x-rayed and screened for nitroglycerine or other illegal sunstances .....right !!
#12 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 7:00 PM ESTTSA are a bunch of near illiterate would be Samsons. Time to give them a haircut!!!
#13 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 7:47 PM ESTI guess this gets me on obama ben salami's hit list But here goes. On a recent trip out of BWI the lines were long and slow. One of the TSA black females with an attitude asked her fat TSA boss if he wanted to open more security gates. Answer 'NO, let the white breads wait.' God forbid if you piss off a black TSA female with an attitude. Many can't speak cogent English. They look and act like slobs. This is security? To the truly professional TSA personal I offer my condolences.
Jake
#14 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 8:38 PM ESTI guess your comment wouldn't be quite so bad if you would only learn how to spell correctly.
Bush and Cheney, also homeland security was a real big joke. And Cheney still is a joke with him always attacking president Obama every chance he gets he should shrivel up and blow away.
#15 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 8:58 PM ESTYep, he is a little rude isn't he? But really, obama hasn't done ANYTHING to help our country other than to continue to give billions that we don't have, which isn't help at all.
Incompetent minimum wage security officers wage their own class warfare rather than insure security, one week ago flipping burgers this week providing security for air travel.
If security were taken seriously it would follow the El Al model.
#16 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 9:15 PM ESTYou would not be so lucky getting the pay they get you unemployed complaing moron.
A man in front of me recently made it through security with 12 cans of soup. Let's be serious. this is a jobs program for people that can't get jobs on their own.
#17 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 10:03 PM ESTIf the item was needed for a specific medical reason it is allowed through. I'll bet you must have tried to get a botttle of juice for your breakfast through and it was taken away. You are just a jealous soul.
They don't check to see if the reason you have those cans is legit. Anyone wants to know anything about TSA policy ask. I know everything they do and screw up... they will not check to see if you're diabetic. They will though in many instances take your baby's milk or juice away. I always ended up with bottles of wine and drinks from people who had to leave it at security. Sure, that was good for me, I got a lot of free stuff... but guess what? The air crew doesn't get checked, they bring in coffee all the time, and often they're not on duty or even working anymore. They often don't retrieve important IDs and uniforms from ex employees. As soon as there's a crisis, they turn tail and run. I've had 5 of them harass me sexually, being extremely unprofessional, they've actually whistled and heckled the JHS volleyball team, they always talk about how they like the job because they get to hit on girls/guys... they often would insult passengers that wore Obama shirts pushing their political views and picking on them. There are a few good people working for TSA, but they're either weeded out, or never promoted.
They often would make fun of passengers because they got lost in the small airport, or didn't read.
Sure, we know all the rules... WE WORK THERE! But the MAJORITY of passengers had one thing or another that wasn't allowed.
It isn't Okay to have more than 3.4 ounces of liquid per container in the quart size bag but it is okay if you drink a gallon of the same liquid and take it onto the plane in your stomach. Ice isn't a liquid, or a gas, or a gel, yet it still isn't allowed on.
I've collected tons of pocket knives... sure, that's nice. TSA doesn't bother informing those who don't know any better that they can bring the water on board since they're diabetic... so of course I would have to point it out. There's no reason for TSA to make fun of passengers for not knowing the rules, yet they did it often. I had coworkers that worked in security before TSA and they had no trouble doing a near perfect job, smiling and professional, quick and efficient. Yet, we replace them with college drop outs -- I was the only one with a college degree other than some people in IT that worked in the whole airport.
Ask anyone... ANYONE who has worked closely with TSA, or those TSA employees that aren't ignorant jerks, that TSA is the problem, not the solution. They're not well liked, at all... and I thought those were all exaggerations. It took me more than a year to realize that there was nothing good about TSA.
What happened here with the document isn't new. They lost a USB drive with sensitive information, they constantly have breaches, and they have no clue about security. In fact, the majority of the TSA staff at Reno/Tahoe was FIRED because they were tested and failed miserably. People that had been working there for years! Oh well, several airports had the chance to opt out of the TSA program but didn't. I guess they don't care since our taxes are funding their checks.
One time the wheelchair pusher forgot to close the stanchion behind her so passengers started flowing in through the wheel chair entrance. TSA didn't bother to close it (I would often do it, but it wasn't my job and every time I did nobody even thanked me) and eventually at TSO went up to them and said "stop acting like sheep, the entrance is over there" and pushed them out. I don't care if they thought the bathroom was the entrance to security -- you just don't talk like that to the people who make your paychecks possible.
Anyway, TSA is a waste of money. Hopefully the govt will realize that and actually do something about it.
Security while flying is a fantasy. If I told you the truth I would be back on the do not fly list again. Many of you here will probably be on it as well. If you think the air will be safer without yourself on it, then I guess it works. If you think a terrorist can't get just about anything they want on a plane, your wrong.
#18 - Wed Dec 9, 2009 11:30 PM ESTHe probably did. I worked for a company that closely worked with TSA and nothing good ever came from them. We all have horror stories, TSA is terrible and that's it. One day I will probably write a book... the sexual harassment, the infantile behavior, the few good apples in the bunch that were weeded out... remember the big idiot at the Reno Airport that makes fun of everyone that comes up to the podium? What about the dumb blond that doesn't understand that it is 3.4 ounces, not 3, not 2... 3.4 ounce in each individual liquid container in a quart size bag. The perfume you used to be able to buy before security was small enough, yet, they loved taking that @!$%# away... I'll take some time later to post a thorough post about all the most idiotic things they ever did... they don't know anything about security... they used me as a decoy for people they didn't want to deal with because I'm attractive female. The police wouldn't do anything to stop the drunk coming after me, and TSA isn't 'security' so they aren't responsible for any danger in the airport. They won't even kick out the scary hobo across my office at 3 am when I work by myself and have no weapons to protect myself. Arg... they really piss me off.
#19 - Thu Dec 10, 2009 5:07 AM ESTmoufy.....If you really have a college degree as you claim, then I wish you would check your writing before posting to eliminate your bad grammar and missing words. It makes you appear to be an ignoramus and thus less credible in what you say. I do, however, sincerely appreciate your willingness to reveal what is going on in our airports if what you say is not pure fiction.
Long ago, I decided never again to board an airplane, so whatever the government does or does not do about airport security cannot affect me one way or the other. On the other hand, I am profoundly concerned about the safety of others who must fly. Those poor souls are at the mercy of a merciless government run by fools and people of demonstrated incompetence at every level.
It is well past time to clean house at Homeland Security starting at the top and going all the way to the bottom. Why we allow their obvious criminal malfeasance is far beyond me. We should start by sending many of those in charge to prison without parole and firing most of the rest with extreme prejudice.
Then, put a real man in charge, a men of genuine moral integrity, courage to oppose the PC establishment, common sense, organizational talent and enormous intelligence. He will do what needs to be done, thus making flying reasonably safe again for all those who must travel by that means. Until then, if you value your life, my counsel is to entirely avoid air travel if at all possible because it is like playing Russian roulette. You might not fire the live round for a long time, but, sooner or later, it will eventually get you.
I travel often and comparing TSA with other security agencies overseas, TSA should be ashame to put that kind of people in front of foreign passengers that know much better about security and professionalism. TSA looks and act like a bunch of retarded uneducated rude morons. The management in TSA are probably as stupid and poorly educated as the people representing them on the front lines. We the taxpayers should get better than this. No private company could ever survive working with the caliber of these people. Shameful!
#20 - Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:09 AM ESTYou're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead. |
My sister used to work for the TSA and based on what she saw in the years she was an agent, she now refuses to fly.