WillCAD

Same here, only my version is "Sometimes, TSA is not as evil it seems to us. But most of the time, it is."

RadioGirl

What's this "queue" you mention?

In Australian airports (domestic and international terminals), it's a bad day if there are ten people ahead of me at the checkpoint, or more than fifty people at the checkpoint in total. And even then, they're moving through at a quick pace. It's a terrible day if it takes me more than five minutes to get through security. If you're going for lots of people packed in a small area, the lines at Costco or the movie theatre are more attractive targets for Bad Guys than Australian airport checkpoints.

It's the same in other sane countries, although I once waited 8 whole minutes at GVA.

TSA, uniquely, creates long security checkpoint queues by having extra processes (ID checks, remove your shoes, get in the NoS, wait 10 or 20 minutes for a patdown), by training (or allowing) staff to make things slower rather than faster (in LAX someone wasn't paying attention so they had to run my handbag through the x-ray a second time), and by understaffing the checkpoint.

chollie

(bolding mine)

I have to disagree with you on this one point.

I have never seen security queues outside the US as long and slow as what I regularly see in the US.

I have also never seen such a high level of staffing anywhere outside the US.

There's a reason for folks referring to Thousands Standing Around. They really do stand around jacking their jaws and with no apparent purpose (no, I don't believe they are all BDOs - I regularly see checkpoints where the number of TSOs standing around is equal to the number of TSOs who are actually engaged in activity). Yes, I do realize that some positions involve cyclical periods of brief inactivity - belt monitors and tub stackers, for example - and that occasionally someone is perhaps in training and merely observing - how to stack tubs, for instance. That still doesn't explain the numbers.

Carl Johnson

Almost all of that is true, but if there's one thing they don't do it's to understaff the checkpoint. They have enough staff there; the problem is that the staff are lazy, slovenly idiots. The useless procedures create a backup, true; but the backup wouldn't be as bad if the clerks weren't so slow.

WillCAD

I don't disagree, but the delays are not caused by only one thing.

* Extra procedures mean more time
* Slow, stupid, incompetent, apathetic, or antagonistic staff mean more time
* Uneducated pax who don't have any idea what to expect mean more time
* Poor staffing means more time
* Excessive crowds due to weather mean more time

goalie

Fixed it for you

chollie

(bolding mine)

No, I have to disagree with this.

At checkpoints around the world, there aren't big screen TVs and taped loops and signs and people yelling instructions. There are also frequently far more pax who don't speak the local language.

Yet somehow everyone still manages to have a better grasp of what to do. Well, except for some Americans who insist on removing shoes, even when not required, to ensure the safety of everyone else.

Case in point: Pre. I showed up at a SEA checkpoint. The lane monitor announced that Pre was closed. OK, fine. I take my shoes off (as I always do) and baggie out before I ever get to the TDC. Guess what? Pre is not operating, but post-TDC, the belt monitor announces that Pre-lite is in force. That meant shoes on, jackets and some belts and shoes (those flagged by the belt monitor) removed, liquids and electronics out.

There were no signs anywhere explaining what 'Pre-lite' means.

Even better: approach a non-Pre checkpoint. Get last-minute, no explanation 'managed inclusion'. I've already got my shoes off and the belt monitor holds the line up while I'm told to put my shoes back on before going through the WTMD. Again, no signs indicating what 'managed inclusion' means to a pax who isn't eligible for Pre.

Watch the pax in front of you? Um, considering many pax, even frequent flyers, don't know exactly what to expect from one trip to another, that's hardly a reliable guideline. The most 'clueless' are the first-time flyers who know that they aren't a threat and foolishly don't understand that water bottles and shampoo and cupcakes and purses with images of guns and light sabers and sequential checks are all prohibited items.

Xyzzy

Why thank yu!

DeafBlonde

You forgot sock monkeys with 2" toy sidearms...

RadioGirl

Fair point. By "understaffing" I didn't mean "not enough bodies" I meant "not enough staff doing actual work."
Agreed. This is less an issue of the intelligence or experience of the passengers (which varies, of course, from person to person but the distribution is pretty much the same anywhere in the world) and more about the additional measures in the US, and the random implementation of measures in the US.

Everywhere else in the world (possible exceptions Canada and UK - I haven't been to either for several years) the process is standardized and simple. You can easily figure it out by watching the people in front of you, possibly with some quiet, polite advice from security staff if you seem uncertain.

N965VJ

What to do with the TSA short term-


1. Stop the use and deployment of body scanning machines. They don't see into body cavities, under folds of flesh, or detect explosives. They are an intrusion into privacy and needlessly add to cumulative lifetime radiation doses, and there are no peer-reviewed studies that back up the government's claim they are safe.

Properly procured and administrated use of Explosive Trace Detection Portals (puffers) addresses the technical shortcomings of the body scanners, while at the same time are non-intrusive and pose no health risks. It’s unfortunate that the Chertoff Group and other lobbyists that profit from the deployment of body scanners have no interest in ETP technology that is being used in venues as varied as nuclear installations and the CN Tower in Toronto.

ETP, coupled with Walk Through Metal Detectors and x-ray of bags, is real security at the checkpoint, without the need for genital gropes.

2. Full accountability of TSA employees. A Citizen Review Board should be established to investigate allegations of screener abuse. Initiate a focus on customer service training for screeners, instead of barking and asking “Do you want to fly today?”


3. End the War on Liquids. The exemptions make it pointless, and even if there was such a Magic Liquid™ that could be used to create a bomb airside without laboratory conditions if you just had enough of it, just send ten guys through the checkpoint with their Kippie Bags and combine it airside.


4. End the removal of shoes. The X-Ray machine cannot detect explosives, period.


5. Eliminate the gate screenings. The fact that this is being done in MCI, where each gate area pretty much has its own checkpoint to start with, is proof that this is nothing more than security theatre and workfare.


4. The wearing of metal “police” badges is stopped immediately, and replaced with the screener’s name and identification number that is plainly visible. Phase out the “police” uniform and replace it with something that reflects the fact that screeners have no law enforcement powers. Eliminate the TSA Honor Guard as there is no need for screeners to dress up in costumes and parade around. Stop trying to cash in on the respect that people that serve in the military have earned.


5. Get rid of the No Fly List. There’s no effective means of redress or oversight how the list is managed. If the people on these lists are so dangerous, arrest them.


6. Stop trying to encroach on privately owned aircraft and kill LASP dead in its tracks. The Inspector General has determined that private aircraft are not a threat. Personal Liberties — For the first time, the TSA’s regulatory activities would be extended to personal GA aircraft, historic and vintage aircraft, and operators, passengers, and pilots flying for personal and business use. As such, the LASP is a radical departure from anything the TSA has enacted to date. It would, in effect, require governmental review and authority before you could operate your own personal vehicle.


7. Stop the ID checks. The TSA has no need to know who I am or where I’m flying. This is nothing more than revenue protection on behalf of the airlines. The thought that I must “present my papers” to travel within the border of my own country is disgusting. Stop using the checkpoint as a dragnet. College kids with fake IDs, illegal aliens, or some common criminal wanted on a drug charge somewhere are not a threat to commercial aviation. We have other government agencies tasked for this.


8. End the mission creep. No more TSA appearances at sporting events, bus and train stations, or highways. Let the real law enforcement professionals tasked with these venues handle things without interference from the TSA. Why is the TSA showing up at thousands of non-airport venues every year when the own Red Team test score failures are "off the charts" according to Rep. Mica?


9. The junk science SPOT program gets the boot.


10. Stop any consideration of having screeners armed with firearms, or having any law enforcement powers. We hear of continuous cases where airport LEOs are the last line of defense against abuse by TSA screeners.



What to do with the TSA long term-

The TSA should become a part of the FAA. Actual screening should be done by private contractors with oversight by the FAA. Funny how we never heard the constant stories of mistreatment and harassment of PAX, organized rings of theft and general thuggery when this was being done by private sector firms.




In Canada, I've seen people selected for the body scanners receive a polite explanation that they have the option to opt-out. ^