SeriouslyLost

I'm shocked and outraged (outraged, I say!) at your clear carbohydratist biases. A loaf of bread is perfectly capable of running TSA as well as anyone there now. That bread is mold-challenged is not the fault of the bread and I think reasonable accommodations are very easily made. Keeping it in the fridge, isolated and remote from front line operations or human & bacterial contact, would not be any different in organizational effectiveness than current TSA management.

It's the sort of bigotry displayed by Your Sort of person that is holding loaves of bread back from success in US government service. Thousands of loafs serve their country daily and get little thanks for it, always passed over for promotion. That you would consider a Twinkie more capable than a loaf of bread is despicable and elitist. Shelf life isn't everything and Twinkies are simply promoted due to their additional chemicals and addictive pandering to the mass market. TSA needs new management and loaves of bread are perfect to replace the current management there. So there.

Bearcat06

That said.....you do realize that the same policies and procedures that most on here hate will still be in place....?

Also....if that happened, there would still have to be standards in place on hiring and salaries or you're going to end up getting bigger working there than are currently in place.....

bdschobel

I hope we live long enough to see this. Seriously.

Bruce

WillCAD

I totally agree.

In any given situation, Who does it is completely irrelevant. What is done is the important thing.

Abuse is still abuse, whether it comes from a government employee or a private company employee who is acting with the same authority and under the same rules as the government employee.

For confirmation, simply fly through SFO or one of the (few) other airports where screening is provided by a contractor rather than TSA. Same carp, different uniform.

Schmurrr

I read the part about "funded by the airlines" as suggesting that market forces would lead airlines to support an option that is cost-effective and minimally onerous.

DeafBlonde

First of all, let me say that my Twinkie is highly offended by your remarks!

Secondly, I disagree entirely with your carbohydrate loaded assessment. Loaves of bread are NOT the perfect replacement for the current TSA management, not only because of the shelf stability issue, but because Twinkies also have a soft, sweet, gooey center. That is something that has been missing from the TSA management profile from its inception.

I rest my case...

Caradoc

I disagree, but only to the extent that the "gooey center" of TSA management is brown and smells very bad...

Bearcat06

Same with MCI.....my "home" Airport.

I posted this in another thread a year or so ago.... One of them asked for a "United States" drivers license when I gave them my Hawaii one.

I asked for a supervisor....saw the squirrel turn in his head for a bit when he showed up and looked at it before he told me to have a nice day and onward I went......

Bearcat06

Low bid..... leads to low quality folks.....

Boggie Dog

No bid leads to no quality.

WillCAD

No accountability and no oversight leads to low quality. Doesn't matter whether there was a bid process or not, whether the winner of a contract was the low bid or high bid - if they are not overseen and held accountable for their execution of the contract, they're inevitably going to try to skate by with the least amount of expenditure to maximize profits. Poor job performance form a contractor is always about money, and if they're allowed to do a poor job but still get paid, they'll do a poor job. They'll do the bare minimum amount they can get away with, just to get the pay check.

Any screening contractors who do a poor job do so because TSA allows them to do a poor job, just as it allows its own employees to do a poor job. TSA does not oversee and hold accountable screening contractors any better than they do their own employees.

It's my understanding (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that the private contractors at places like SFO are not hired by TSA, they are hired by the local airport authority. TSA sets the rules by which they must operate, and they are provided some oversight in the form of a local FSD, but they work directly for the local airport authority. If this is true, then blame for any abuses or lack of accountability must be laid partially at the feet of the local airport authority. TSA sets screening rules and establishes screening procedures, but preventing abuse, holding individual screeners to the standards, and preventing theft can all be done with better oversight on the part of the local authority, as well. In other words, TSA may mandate the 3-1-1 rule, use of NoS and gate checks, and spell out the procedure for a resolution pat-down, but if a particular private screener fails to screen bags, doesn't recognize acceptable ID, tries to x-ray breast milk, refuses to allow a traveler to bring his prescription nitro pills through, or steals an iPad, then the local authority can, and should, force the contractor to retrain, discipline, or terminate the screener.

It's all about oversight, and accountability. Even low-bid and no-bid contractors can do an adequate job if they are properly overseen and held accountable for their job performance.