Airport Security Again

Back in May I posted "The Flight Not Taken" about abuses by TSA personnel.

It seems that the TSA doesn't care to address these issues, and is possibly making it worse.

Fliers Complain About X-Rated Security Screenings

A spokesman said that out of 2 billion passengers screened nationwide since 9-11, there have been only 110,000 abuse complaints.

That's just lovely. Out of that 100,000 complaints, how many have resulted in discipline of screeners?

"She was yelling 'I have power, I have power, I have power," Perry said. The power to stop him from flying to Florida with his wife that day to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

This seems to be a big part of the problem. For some reason there seem to be an inordinate number of people employed by the TSA who let a little bit of authority go to their heads. Those are the people that should be weeded out of the system. Going through airport screening is aggravating enough as is without some of the screeners piling insults and humiliation on top of it. I understand the reasons for screening, but as others have noted, common sense seems to have been purposefully removed from the process.

"It makes you feel like you have no rights," Perry said.

Which is a huge part of the problem. Like all good petty bureaucrats some TSA screeners become intransigent and more petty when someone complains about a possible abuse.

One of the first things the TSA should do is have supervisors at every screening facility to resolve, on the spot, complaints and answer procedural questions by both screeners and passengers. The TSA should also have and publish prominently a toll free number for complaints. It should not take a US Senator or Congressman to resolve citizen complaints.

Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit
wrote about security screening causing more and more people to opt for driving versus flying. "Revenge of the Tweezer People" back in August of 2002 foretold of this trend and there is no sign that it's improving one bit. To the contrary, time seems to have emboldened TSA screeners to become even less courteous.

The airline industry has more than enough problems that are driving it towards collapse without the government helping move that process along. Maybe the next President will appoint both a Secretary of Transportation and a Secretary of Homeland Security who will address these problems before that collapse occurs.

I'm not holding my breath, though.

UPDATE: An article from Time Magazine came to my attention just now.

The idea for the new badge and uniform came from an advisory council of TSA workers in the field. "We definitely wanted to change from the white shirts [which had an embroidered badge sewn onto the fabric]," says Stephanie Naar, a TSA employee who has worked at Reagan National Airport for over three years. "We wanted to have, I don't want to say more authority, but a more professional look to upgrade our image."

I could "Fisk" the whole article, but what's the point? It's not the shirts, pant, or tacky sewn on badge that offends people. It's the stupid policies and officious attitudes of the screeners that we don't like. Travel by air sucks enough already without you people making it worse. I can't understand why an item has to be swabbed for explosives at one airport, but is passed without comment at another. By the way, are TSA screeners taught the difference between ferrous and non ferrous metals during that intensive two week training course? One wouldn't think so from the dog hearing a high pitched sound that humans can't look that they inevitably get when I explain that my belt has a buckle made of aluminum and won't set off their detector.

I'm flying to an undisclosed location tomorrow for a family wedding. I'm sure I'll have some more comments about the Too Stupid for Arby's screeners I encounter.