TSA'S Summer Meltdown, and The Solution That Nobody Will Talk About

It's been obvious for years that the TSA is a bloated bureaucratic behemoth that can't get out of its own way. When I was an active pilot for a major airline (now retired) I bristled and felt insulted that I, and fellow crew-members, had to suffer the indignity of TSA checkpoints...when WE were the ones responsible for people's safety! What I wanted to say (but couldn't, because you can't "joke" in security lines) was:

"I'm the pilot, and I am taking off my shoes and belt.....BUT! I have three 'weapons' that you cannot remove: Two hands, and a brain."

Security expert Bruce Schneier has been saying this for years. Airport screening is "Security Theater"...designed to make the public feel safer but it doesn't actually make them much safer. As Patrick Smith says, once a plot has made it as far as the airport, it's unlikely the TSA screeners will catch it.

Require every flying Congressperson to go through the line with the plebes at DCA and IAD and at their home airport. Then things will improve

As bad as TSA is, it's not totally their fault. Passengers bring way to many carry on bags that jam up the lines and the biggest offenders are familys with toys, strollers filled with bags and not children,food and liquid items for their children that have to be checked by an officer. It's not the only problem, but it is a problem. Also, agree pre check is filled with people who haven't been pre cleared.

TSA has created a huge target. If a terrorist in the US wants to kill a couple hundred people, all he has to do is get in a TSA screening line with a suicide vest on almost any Sunday afternoon or Monday morning. Some airports the lines stretch out over large areas, others (like IAD) zigzag a lot of people into a fairly confined space.

I paid the $85 for precheck. But while at some airports it works exactly as it should, at others it's worthless. I go through one airport that the precheck only allows me to keep my shoes on and many other airports don't even do that. Having the precheck option is one thing, being able to use it is another. If they (TSA) want to be more efficient, they might want to use the tools they already have instead of making their own rules for each airport and even each line.

There is clearly something organically and culturally wrong at TSA. Any organization that has the personnel attrition rate that TSA has is fundamentally flawed. Recruitment is barely keeping up with attrition. Sure, pay is mediocre, but entry qualifications are low. They are not looking for people with advanced education and experience. It is too simplistic to pin the blame on any one thing. The entire agency needs to be studied. Throwing money at the problem without knowing what is causing the problem is a waste.

The terrorist won.... we r so distracted by our owe knee jerk reactions, the bad guys just sit back and laugh at our failures... drive, stay actions... whatever. But don't keep feeding the insanity... stop coming and I bet they fix this right quick..

What about using some common sense on domestic U.S. flights for a Pre-Check or even exemption? Many of us are not a logical terrorist profile. Using my own example (of course) - male, retired, over 70, lifetime citizen, Viet Nam military veteran (top secret security clearance), law enforcement and teaching background, no criminal or arrest record, always round trip tickets purchased well in advance, multiple flights a year, limited foreign travel. But I did transfer through Dubai three years ago although there wasn't time to radicalize me during the layover.

Everyone keeps dissing on TSA, which is not undeserved. However, in my humble opinion, the airlines caused much longer lines by charging to check bags. Make them free, force people to check their bags and then have stricter methods of ensuring that these bags are safe to fly. People and their personal items can then move more rapidly through the TSA checkpoints. If someone must have a larger bag the need to bring (maybe fragile equipment) charge them to go carry it on the plane.

"You have 3.5 oz. of water in that bottle, I will have to confiscate it because I believe its contents could be an explosive" tosses bottle in garbage can right next to line.

I am sure there are a lot of incidents happening in the background that the flying public will never know about. What we do know about, is that it only takes one or two screeners with a 'God complex' to give all of them a bad rap. Or a screener or two with 'sticky-fingers'. Most of the screeners I have interacted with at DSM are easy going yet professional and live by the axiom 'if you treat others with respect, that is how you will get treated in return'

The biggest contributing factor is the Airline's nickel and dime strategy. Checked bag? that will be $50. (everything now goes in a carry-on) Now, Carry-on? that will be $35. As other posters have stated, checked bag? free. carry-on? nominal fee. that should cut down on people carrying their life's accumulated gradoo, stuffed into a bag the size of 1970's microwave oven. There is room for improvement on all fronts. Most importantly, don't forget to bring your patience with you.

Wow. The first problem this guy can think of on 9/11 is the passengers:

"It was a failure of passenger and crew awareness, of cockpit entry protocols, and a total breakdown of communication at the levels of our FBI and CIA, both of which had been tracking the hijackers."

Let's back up. The passengers had been told for generations to be quiet and cooperate in the case of a hijacking.

Let's remember the proportion of types of people who suffered on 9/11 ranked from most to least, which also happens to be approximately the ranking of those who did the most to rescue American from an even greater disaster on that day:

Ordinary civilians (2400 dead, made a decision in a few minutes to ignore the decades of advice on hijackings, and therefore kept a plane from being flown into the Whitehouse or the Capitol) : Firefighters (250 dead, rescued thousands from burning buildings) : Civil Police (scores dead, also helped thousands escape from burning buildings) : Military (scores dead, rescued each other from Pentagon) : Air Crew (dozens dead, made phone calls that helped connect the dots of the horror that day.)

And this guy starts with "It was a failure of passenger awareness..." Whatever it takes to not look in the mirror.

There is a lot of inefficient use of agents. For example, it seems every security area has an agent perched on a chair at the exit whose sole job is to stop people returning to the secure area after they leave it. This could be handled by turnstiles, or better yet, require the Airport Authority to hire security for that job. Also, why is the person shouting out instructions at the top of the line a trained screener? Use a civilian. Same with ID checkers.

A lot of it is security theater to impress the public. Like the indignity of having to remove shoes and belts. Never have to do this in Europe.

A simpler solution is to do away with checked bag fees.

I agree with all the points made by the author!
On a recent flight out of FRA I asked the local security person if I should take off my shoes and he basically laughed at me and said,"nope, we don't do that here, only the US makes you do it"

How about each airline paying for their own security check points. They can finance it with the baggage fees. That might be a service point they could compete on.

The airlines are partially to blame. If they didn't charge for checked bags, there would likely be fewer bags to check in the screening line.

Excellent ideas! Best of all: Use common sense and scientifically-constructed data to determine cost/benefit ratio for the current log-jam inefficiencies.

In order to increase transparency and inform the public of its true nature, the Transportation Sturm Abteilung (TSA) should change their shirt color to brown. With this knowledge, the public will not dare to ever criticize these champions of safety, nor even look them in the eye.

Patrick Smith, as usual, provides a well expressed argument. A quick google search on TSA threat vector found this. Personally, it does not leave me with a positive feeling. The TSA appears to be a macabre joke.
https://www.tsa.gov/news/testimony/2015/10/08/testimony-reform-and-improvement-assessing-path-forward-transportation

So how many of the naysayers find a value in the 2200 weapons that the poor dumb TSA screeners removed from hand luggage last year?

Karen Crisp is right - Checked Bags Fly Free. Charge for carry-on bags and make people who have to have them go through the screening silliness. Making the congressional folks go through screening would improve things - but it would probably push many of them to fly General Aviation aircraft - oh wait, that would be a good thing - maybe then they would get the idea that the FAA needs to be reformed as well!

Applying for TSA Pre-check should be free, not a revenue source for TSA bonuses.

The solutions outlined would greatly speed the security process, and improve security. Very well thought out!

Paid for precheck,doesn't work, Tsa doesn't know why. So?
Just try. Calling them. Lots of luck on that!

I flew "commercial" out of KWDG one time about 2005. It was the experience that convinced me to use FBO charter service from then on. This airport had at the time passenger service that consisted of one Beech 1900 that had 2 flights a day(I don't remember if it was Mesa or Lone Star at the time). Rarely had more than two people boarding. TSA comprised of 4 fulltime screeners and 2 part time screeners. That's right there were two screeners to each passenger on average. And they had to have a city police officer come out for each arrival and departure. On this day I was the only person boarding at KWDG and was patted down twice by different TSA agents. I was told by the supervisor because "we have a required number of pat downs we have to do a month to stay qualified." How the heck is that my problem! If you have so many screeners that you can't they stay "current" maybe you should have fewer screeners and reallocate the resources elsewhere. I'm sure there are several small regional airports with the same crap going on.

we cant go back in time to the "good old days" of flying when ther wer no security checkpoints or lines for that,so, as things are today in 2016, we have to find solutions to avoid the long lines and wait times just to take off your shoes and have a tsa rep throw out your bottle of face cream that was too big! the entrances to the gates in most airports are a bit larger than office hallways, and there are ways of accommodating at least 2 or 3 more tsa agents,belts, and x ray machines..i think its the cost that is making them scrimp on people and tools..there is a solution ..

I've never understood how it is that, after the TSA have ensured that I am not carrying a knife, I am served a meal on board with steel cutlery, including a knife with a 3" blade. Do the airlines assume that terrorists only fly coach?

What I'm worried about is that TSA screeners aren't screened thoroughly enough. So, we need the airport PD to screen them. But who screens the airport cops? What if one of them goes off the rails and joins ISIS? We'll have to get some feds in to screen them in the morning. But who screens the feds?

Isn't it Israel that uses mostly old fashioned (and politically incorrect) profiling to fend off potential 'bad guys' - with great success? I seem to recall decades ago when the FBI announced this new technology (profiling) that allowed them to figure out who may be doing what by simply applying known 'habits' that lead to arrests of bad people. Now it's SO politically incorrect that it has led to making my 97 year old mother remove her shoes at the airport while Hakiem walks on by un-hassled.

The current system is fundamentally flawed. TSA needs to keep two things off of aircraft: explosives, guns, and similar devices in carry ons, checked baggage, and/or cargo, and passengers with bad intent. There are methods to deal with both. For example, the TSA should use psychological profiling to detect passengers who warrant additional screening. Meanwhile, they should expand the PreCheck program and make it cheaper and easier.

The obvious solution, and the easiest would be to stop carryon baggage all together. if your time is so valuable, would it not be easier to just have everyone check those bags at the counter and just be able to walk onto the plane. quick body scan then board. you are carrying or dragging the problem behind you. Give them up.

The TSA problem is exactly the same as the VA's problems ... the O'B administration and congress would rather sell (GIVE) weapons to our age old enemy's than support the People veterans especially . God save us from another Military Hating administration.

How can you make progress of the article when the flight attendant's Union stopped the simplest of steps, such as allowing my 2 inch pen knife. I tell you, if someone tries to take down a plane I am on with a pen knife, I will be the first one cut "disabling" the terrorist.

Choice 1) stand in TSA lines
Choice 2) fly Egypt air......

The author seems to put a lot of faith in the intellect and abilities of the individual TSA workers. Let's remember that these people are morons who probably couldn't get one of those sweet, high paying jobs throwing garbage into a truck. Do we really want to put actual decision making into the hands of the lowest paid federal employees? No, we don't, because that would be insane.

Compare how TSA works now compared to how it worked when it first was enacted. Then, think about the personnel working security then compared to know. Finally, think about TSA pre-unionized and post-unionized.

What would your observations be?

I think the idea of targeting profiled groups for intensive screening, while allowing others quicker passage through checkpoints, is flawed. Terrorists are very capable of finding loopholes in security, and can readily exploit the innocent traveling public, to carry their bombs, in the same way that drug traffickers exploit them, as unsuspecting "drug mules", for transfer of narcotics across borders.

"The Most Sensible Fix That Nobody Will Talk About" to me, is to reassess the very appropriateness of international travel, and to ask ourselves how much of that is necessary. I've mulled over that point for some time. Why do we all need to travel? My "most sensible fix" is one that nobody wants to think about: put modern technology to work to devise and develop video-conferencing/sensing technology that is so realistic as to be practically indistinguishable from the "real thing". That technology is in its infancy; it has barely scratched the surface of what is possible. Today we are at a threshold, where individual, previously unrelated technologies are ready to converge into a new technology that has the potential to solve many of our current problems in one blow, including reduced need for energy, reduced impact on our fragile environment, reduced travel security risk, reduced opportunity for terrorist attack, increased access to satisfying life experience for the disabled, avoidance of wasted time, fatigue and expense of moving human bodies and their trappings across flight paths of featureless terrain that nobody wants to see. My list could go on.

We travel to broaden our minds, as we have done since time immemorial. For the first time in history, we have the opportunity to broaden our minds without the need to drag our bodies along for the ride. It’s a solution that some of us, especially those within the travel and transport industry, will not want to know. For them, it is the “Fix That Nobody Will Talk About" – but yet the transition can be made, as painless as was the transition from scribes to the printing press.

Well said. I have stopped flying for this reason. If I can not get there by train, I am not going.

Duh!

another problem is here : Coming from BRU to IAD to PIT . in brussel i go through pasport control then complet check with metaldetector , shoe and vest out , before boarding is another rondom check possible . when arriving in IAD i go through emigration control , pick up my suitcase go through customs give my suitcases for connecting flight and there i go same procedure like in brussels. WHY ???? the only thing they can take from me is my Bottle of whiskey i bought in the tax free zone in brussels ???? do they think i bought box cutters on the plane ????