Want the scoop on TSA delays?

From Gary Leff at A View From the Wing comes this story. Seems that

When the Secret Service needs help running security for a political event they turn to the TSA.…Senator Sanders has been the largest beneficiary, with roughly 755 TSA agents present at his rallies. Mr. Trump has had the second largest TSA presence in the past two months, with 587 agents assisting the Secret Service. Secretary Clinton is in a distant third, with 178 TSA agents at her events since the beginning of April.

And you thought it was something else.

Original reporting from Gizmodo HERE.

Photo of TSA agents doing security screening at a political event.

I'd know those blue shirts anywhere.

I prefer the other theory.

TSA had about a 10% budget cut.

There are fewer TSA agents in place today than a couple of years ago while travel is up 15%.

And looks like someone incompetent running security for them.

And possibly more people taking carry ons on-board.

Less people than anticipated getting TSA pre approv.

And well other stuff I'm sure.

Keith

And possibly more people taking carry ons on-board.

I'd change 'possibly' to 'definitely'. The amount of baggage people are carrying on board now is amazing...and I believe one of the big reasons that almost every flight I've taken in the past few years starts boarding 45 minutes before departure.

I don't like to carry a lot on board; space is so tight. Flying Southwest as often as we do I check whatever I can, though last March we flew AA and had only one checked bag each included. My husband and I each had a roll-aboard as a carry-on (which we normally would check).

Upon arriving at the gate, they announced that any passengers with carryons who wanted to check their bag could do so...for free...because they were afraid they would run out of space. We gladly jumped on it (though many chose not to in order to avoid baggage claim...we were going there anyway).

The other thing we noticed is that passengers truly test the limits of size for the carryons...and some bags are clearly VERY heavy. One passenger couldn't even lift her suitcase into the overhead and her attempts nearly injured passengers sitting just below.

I don't say this is the only reason. But when the demands are high at airports, to then shift them away seems adrift from being the TRANSPORTATION Security Administration.

All part of the silly season.

I don't say this is the only reason. But when the demands are high at airports, to then shift them away seems adrift from being the TRANSPORTATION Security Administration.All part of the silly

season.

Then you have TSA in the NYC Subway with NYPD doing explosive tests on packages (purses, bags, backbacks) being brought into the subway. Okay subway is Transportation but since NY's Finest can be trained to do field drug testing for narcotics can't they be trained to use the TSA explosive dectection equipment?

On top of that, the search is voluntary and supposedly random. If you deny access to your bag you can not enter the station at that enterence. Most subway stops have more than one entrance, all I do is go across the street at my home station (guess which subway line from my handle) and enter, no search.

Sorry for the slight topic drift but FlyerTalker's point was right on.

Reports of a plan to fix the TSA mess:

The Transportation Security Administration has pledged to revamp its processes in response to recent record-setting airport lines and wait times. Here are some ways in which the TSA plans to improve:

• Boarding passes issued with pre-printed inscrutable scribbling
  
• Launching PSA campaign that encourages travelers to question whether this trip is really worth all the hassle
  
• Only permitting carry-on items you can sprint with
  
• Series of pikes in the ticketing area to display the severed, shoe-adorned feet of unprepared travelers
  
• Hiring additional 20,000 agents to stand and point out which line you should be in
  
• Allowing passengers to bypass security if they can answer certain TSA-approved riddles
  
• Two more bins per scanner line
  
• Withdrawing U.S. troops from the Middle East while pursuing a centrist path in diplomacy that balances Israel’s interests with respect for the culture and sovereignty of Muslim nations
  
• Opening some of the six goddamn lanes right over there
  

Of course, this is from The Onion.

Reports of a plan to fix the TSA mess:

 

The Transportation Security Administration has pledged to revamp its processes in response to recent record-setting airport lines and wait times. Here are some ways in which the TSA plans to improve:

• Boarding passes issued with pre-printed inscrutable scribbling
  
• Launching PSA campaign that encourages travelers to question whether this trip is really worth all the hassle
  
• Only permitting carry-on items you can sprint with
  
• Series of pikes in the ticketing area to display the severed, shoe-adorned feet of unprepared travelers
  
• Hiring additional 20,000 agents to stand and point out which line you should be in
  
• Allowing passengers to bypass security if they can answer certain TSA-approved riddles
  
• Two more bins per scanner line
  
• Withdrawing U.S. troops from the Middle East while pursuing a centrist path in diplomacy that balances Israel’s interests with respect for the culture and sovereignty of Muslim nations
  
• Opening some of the six goddamn lanes right over there
  

Of course, this is from The Onion.

They could cancel all the flights. That would resolve the issue. :)

Reports of a plan to fix the TSA mess:

 

Unlike others.... There are some times you actually make me laugh!

Thanks for the comedy show.

I want a report of the new TSA checkpoint at ATL that has taken away the job of the bin runner and replaced it with some whiz-bang automated belt...

Though I have not seen it, reports are that it's basically like the systems you find in Europe, where the bins get sent back on a track to the loading area.

Apparently, TSA hasn't been happy.

Though I have not seen it, reports are that it's basically like the systems you find in Europe, where the bins get sent back on a track to the loading area.

 

Apparently, TSA hasn't been happy.

Finally the shoe is on the other foot. Personally I am all for profile based security. People behaving in unusual or overly nervous manners, people who have traveled to suspect regions. Require anyone who flies to use a passport to do so in order to track their movements, and tie all of our LEO data systems together to make it much harder to slip under the radar. Propper algorithm coding can pick up on patterns that would clear suspicions or raise eyebrows in a split second without depending on humans, but then allow a human who has been highly trained to ask a couple of questions to determine if someone needs additional screening or not.

Profile based security in the US would have prevented September 11th. Paying cash for first class tickets should have been red flag number one.

Finally the shoe is on the other foot. Personally I am all for profile based security. People behaving in unusual or overly nervous manners, people who have traveled to suspect regions. Require anyone who flies to use a passport to do so in order to track their movements, and tie all of our LEO data systems together to make it much harder to slip under the radar. Propper algorithm coding can pick up on patterns that would clear suspicions or raise eyebrows in a split second without depending on humans, but then allow a human who has been highly trained to ask a couple of questions to determine if someone needs additional screening or not.

 

Profile based security in the US would have prevented September 11th. Paying cash for first class tickets should have been red flag number one.

Having flown on El Al many years ago, the Israelis were using these methods very effectively over 20 years ago.

TSA seems to focus on an issue like shoes, after a terrorist tried to blow up an airplane with a bomb in his shoes. We have travelled all over the World and it seems only in the USA are shoes removed.

Having flown on El Al many years ago, the Israelis were using these methods very effectively over 20 years ago.

 

TSA seems to focus on an issue like shoes, after a terrorist tried to blow up an airplane with a bomb in his shoes. We have travelled all over the World and it seems only in the USA are shoes removed.

Israeli-style security can't be scaled to the US. There are maybe 2 airports in Israel (Ben-Gurion and maybe Eilat) that require international security checks. They can afford to have staff that has months and months of specialized training in behavioral science. Maybe hundreds of this staff is possible. In the US, you have hundreds of airports needing this kind of staff. TSA hires high school graduates or GED holders or people with one year of mall/amusement park security experience. Those who are "specially" trained Behavior Detection Officers (BDOs) are given a couple of weeks of training then set out on the public. To have Israeli-style security, you would need thousands of college graduates and then have the additional month and months of training. It just can't happen here. So, we are given "reactionary" security - shoe bomb, remove shoes, underwear bomber - nude-o-scope, etc...

However if we allow artificial intelligence to do a lot of the work for us, we would only need a handful of highly trained agents to watch and where appropriate question. Those identified as suspect by algorithms would be forced into a special line for extra screening--Israeli style. Again it comes back to some common sense approaches including forcing anyone who wants to fly to have a passport and enter the number to track suspect travel, and feed data from all agencies into one master database for ease of identifying people who need to have more than a passport checked against a boarding pass, a walk through a metal detector, and a cursory glance at hand luggage. To be honest, dogs walking a line are far more likely to detect an explosive, GPR, etc. Not to mention that "bad guys" hate dogs and tend to out themselves when approached by one. In most cases, K9's are smarter and more effective than the average TSA agent currently in place.

In most cases, K9's are smarter and more effective than the average TSA agent currently in place.

Only "most cases"??

:D

TSA=Thousands Standing Around

BTW, here's a link to an article on the ATL checkpoint, with embedded video. LINK HERE.

Well, my first post was a quite serious look at how TSA resources are being shunted away from TRANSPORTATION security. But since Toberman enjoyed my later post on proposed TSA actions, here's an update:

ARLINGTON, VA— Following the release of a report indicating that the agency failed 95 percent of security tests, the Transportation Security Administration announced Tuesday that agents will now simply stand at airport checkpoints and remind all passengers that everybody will eventually die someday. “As part of our new security protocol, TSA agents at every checkpoint will carefully inform each passenger that life is a temporary state and that no man can escape the fate that awaits us all,” said acting TSA administrator Mark Hatfield, adding that under the new guidelines, agents will ensure that passengers fully understand and accept the inevitability of death as they proceed through the boarding pass check, luggage screening, and body scanner machines. “Signs posted throughout the queues will also state that death is unpredictable but guaranteed, and a series of looping PA messages will reiterate to passengers that, even if they survive this flight, they could still easily die in 10 years or even tomorrow.” Hatfield went on to say that the TSA plans to add a precheck program that will expedite the process for passengers the agency deems comfortable with the ephemeral nature of life.

Again, from The Onion.

Well, my first post was a quite serious look at how TSA resources are being shunted away from TRANSPORTATION security. But since Toberman enjoyed my later post on proposed TSA actions, here's an update:

 

 

 

Again, from The Onion.

After all, life is nothing more than a sexually transmitted terminal condition:p!

Well, my first post was a quite serious look at how TSA resources are being shunted away from TRANSPORTATION security. But since Toberman enjoyed my later post on proposed TSA actions, here's an update:

 

 

 

Again, from The Onion.

God, I love The Onion. Between it and Andy Borowitz, I get my dose of daily chuckles.

Strange, no "anything for security" sheeple have taken part in this discussion…

Requiring passports for all air travel, even domestic, will always be a hot-button topic. It implies a requirement for a Federal ID for all, something some of those to the right of Goldwater have an issue with. Profile-based security is absolutely the way to go, but the pesky "all men are created equal" clause in the Constitution comes into play here in the US.

God, I love The Onion. Between it and Andy Borowitz, I get my dose of daily chuckles.

 

 

 

Strange, no "anything for security" sheeple have taken part in this discussion…

 

 

 

Requiring passports for all air travel, even domestic, will always be a hot-button topic. It implies a requirement for a Federal ID for all, something some of those to the right of Goldwater have an issue with. Profile-based security is absolutely the way to go, but the pesky "all men are created equal" clause in the Constitution comes into play here in the US.

All men are created equal until they associate with known terrorists or take trips to the Sudan or Afghanistan or Syria, you get the picture. At that point, the interests of national security completely trumps any "rights." Air travel is a private enterprise, and airlines can prevent anyone they would like from traveling with them, as long as it is applied across the board and not based on protected classes. And even then, they sometimes can when the potential safety or security of other passengers or the aircraft is involved.

. . . . How is it now with the 2016 version of TSA screening. Trying to plan return trips from MCO and wondering what the earliest recommended flight is these days.

Thanks in advance. Noticed some other names who will be with us on the EPIC in February, posting here.

. . . . How is it now with the 2016 version of TSA screening. Trying to plan return trips from MCO and wondering what the earliest recommended flight is these days.

 

 

 

Thanks in advance. Noticed some other names who will be with us on the EPIC in February, posting here.

This might help...

I used to arrive every Monday morning at 5:55 for my 6:25 flight. No checked bag, and always either Clear or Pre. Now with Pre and no checked bag I allow a full hour.

and that is for a Monday morning flight.

Interested to hear from some cruise disembarkation passengers to see how long the TSA lines are around Noon on Sat or Sun.

MCO is not a business-intensive airport. So if it's a mess on a Monday morning, one can reasonably extrapolate that it's even worse on a weekend, with vacation travelers and higher volumes. Add in the mess that comes from Disney shopping bags and those mini-rollers that kids carry and car seats and....

MCO is not a business-intensive airport. So if it's a mess on a Monday morning, one can reasonably extrapolate that it's even worse on a weekend, with vacation travelers and higher volumes. Add in the mess that comes from Disney shopping bags and those mini-rollers that kids carry and car seats and....

The amount of crap people try to carry on at MCO is insane. Had a two women on my last flight almost come to blows over not enough overhead space to store giant Disney bags.