2013 Survey: How Effective is the Transportation Security Administration?
#106
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, MM, NR; HH Diamond, Bonvoy LT Gold, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Diamond, others
Posts: 12,159
TSA check points usually provide a bit of entertainment for me. On one occasion the lady next to me did not have her cosmetics in ZIPLOK bag and the TSA agent was really yelling at her - I carry a roll of ZIPLOK bags because on my job I have to bag broken parts. I handed her a ZIPLOK bag. The TSA agent went nuts and started screaming at me. The lady tried to give me the bag back and I told her he is just mad because we neutralized his problem with you. At this point I was laughing at the TSA agent. He screamed, "SUPERVISOR!". When the supervisor came over, the TSA agent explained the lady did not have a ZIPLOK bag and this guy gave her one. Supervisor said problem solved. By this time everyone around was having a good chuckle. See, TSA is usually good entertainment. I go through TSA with a smile on my face and a song in my heart; they seldom fail to entertain.
#107
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Iowa, USA
Posts: 95
My budget numbers were from DHS, and that includes other things in addition to TSA, the Coast Guard to pick a probable life saving example.
As for TSA, there is a significant possibility that the avoidance of the airport and driving instead, may have actually cost lives. I have no evidence except empirical evidence.
Let's suppose that they find 30 guns a month which is about what the numbers typically are. That is one a day, roughly. We have no way to know how many were just people that forgot or had absolutely no nefarious intent. We can guess. Guessing is fun. How about one a month?
When that gun is pulled on a plane one thing will almost certainly happen. A bunch of passengers will tackle the idiot and beat him within an inch of his life or kill him. If he gets one in addition to himself, that is two a month. 24 a year.
Back to Mayo. 2.2 million patient days at Mayo are almost certainly responsible for saving 24 lives or more. That is one person per 100,000 patient days, more or less. Heck, if every gun was missed, and every gun led to two deaths, that is 720 per year. That is still one person per 3050 patient days. Over eight years of patient care per death?
I'll bet on Mayo.
As for TSA, there is a significant possibility that the avoidance of the airport and driving instead, may have actually cost lives. I have no evidence except empirical evidence.
Let's suppose that they find 30 guns a month which is about what the numbers typically are. That is one a day, roughly. We have no way to know how many were just people that forgot or had absolutely no nefarious intent. We can guess. Guessing is fun. How about one a month?
When that gun is pulled on a plane one thing will almost certainly happen. A bunch of passengers will tackle the idiot and beat him within an inch of his life or kill him. If he gets one in addition to himself, that is two a month. 24 a year.
Back to Mayo. 2.2 million patient days at Mayo are almost certainly responsible for saving 24 lives or more. That is one person per 100,000 patient days, more or less. Heck, if every gun was missed, and every gun led to two deaths, that is 720 per year. That is still one person per 3050 patient days. Over eight years of patient care per death?
I'll bet on Mayo.
So, the comparison is not 30 guns getting through vs. what you could do with TSA budget, but a small fraction of the 30 guns getting through vs. the $1.1 Trillion.
UGH!
#108
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,657
The results are in:
http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler....r-poor-rating/
http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler....r-poor-rating/
Eight-five percent of frequent flyers said that the TSA is doing either a fair or poor job of managing security screenings at the nation’s airports., while 66% said that the TSA’s screening procedures are not very effective in preventing acts of terrorism on an aircraft. Last year, the disapproval figure was slightly higher at 90%.
On a positive note, almost twice as many flyers are taking advantage of the TSA’s PreCheck program as did last year, and the high satisfaction rating with the trusted traveler program is likely to be the reason that overall dissatisfaction dropped by five percentage points.
...
For results based on the total sample group, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±1.99 percentage points.
The survey was designed by Basex, a market research firm. Through organic and viral contact, we received 2,415 complete responses from travelers who fly on average 9.8 times per year for business and 5.5 times annually for personal reasons. The sample was designed to provide the perspective of those travelers who frequently traverse TSA checkpoints at a wide variety of airports.
On a positive note, almost twice as many flyers are taking advantage of the TSA’s PreCheck program as did last year, and the high satisfaction rating with the trusted traveler program is likely to be the reason that overall dissatisfaction dropped by five percentage points.
...
For results based on the total sample group, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±1.99 percentage points.
The survey was designed by Basex, a market research firm. Through organic and viral contact, we received 2,415 complete responses from travelers who fly on average 9.8 times per year for business and 5.5 times annually for personal reasons. The sample was designed to provide the perspective of those travelers who frequently traverse TSA checkpoints at a wide variety of airports.
#109
Moderator: Smoking Lounge; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: Lifetime (for now) Gold MM, HH Gold, Giving Tootsie Pops to UA employees, & a retired hockey goalie
Posts: 28,878
The results are in:
http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler....r-poor-rating/
Eight-five percent of frequent flyers said that the TSA is doing either a fair or poor job of managing security screenings at the nation’s airports., while 66% said that the TSA’s screening procedures are not very effective in preventing acts of terrorism on an aircraft. Last year, the disapproval figure was slightly higher at 90%.......
#110
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, MM, NR; HH Diamond, Bonvoy LT Gold, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Diamond, others
Posts: 12,159
#111
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
#113
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 574
TSA Gets a Big Fat F
Frequent Flyers give TSA an F
http://www.eturbonews.com/38471/freq...ve-tsa-f-grade
FlyerTalk, the world’s largest online travel community, has teamed up with Frequent Business Traveler magazine to gauge how the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been performing. The result? An F grade for the TSA.
Eighty-five percent of frequent flyers think that the TSA is doing either a poor or fair job in performing security screenings at the nation's airports, according to a new survey of frequent flyers conducted by Frequent Business Traveler magazine.
According to Frequent Business Traveler magazine, a total of 2,415 FlyerTalk respondents took part in the online survey conducted from August 9 through September 10.
"This year’s survey results demonstrate that there is still much work to be done at America's airport security checkpoints," said Jonathan Spira, editorial director, Frequent Business Traveler.
#120
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: LAS
Posts: 1,279