WP: "D.C. resident: TSA agent questioned if license from nation’s capital was valid"
Feb 26, 2014, 11:51 am
#1
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WP: "D.C. resident: TSA agent questioned if license from nation’s capital was valid"
From the "Are we surprised?" category, this time in Phoenix:
TSA agent questioned if license from nation’s capital was valid for flight:
Of course, Spokesholess Lisa was johnny on the spot:
I'm more concerned that the passenger was "afraid" when the clerk wouldn't accept her license. Well, I guess that's the way Pissy wants it.
TSA agent questioned if license from nation’s capital was valid for flight:
According to Brandt, an agent with the Transportation Security Administration took a look at her D.C. license and began to shake her head. “I don’t know if we can accept these,” Brandt recalled the agent saying. “Do you have a U.S. passport?’
Asked about the incident, Lisa Farbstein, a TSA spokeswoman, pointed a reporter to the agency’s Web site, which has a published list of 15 types of valid IDs for airline travel, including “Driver’s Licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent).”
Farbstein said she could not immediately comment on the incident, but on social media, it was clear that TSA officials were alerted to the incident.
Farbstein said she could not immediately comment on the incident, but on social media, it was clear that TSA officials were alerted to the incident.
Feb 26, 2014, 5:35 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 471
From the "Are we surprised?" category, this time in Phoenix:
TSA agent questioned if license from nation’s capital was valid for flight:
Of course, Spokesholess Lisa was johnny on the spot:
I'm more concerned that the passenger was "afraid" when the clerk wouldn't accept her license. Well, I guess that's the way Pissy wants it.
TSA agent questioned if license from nation’s capital was valid for flight:
Of course, Spokesholess Lisa was johnny on the spot:
I'm more concerned that the passenger was "afraid" when the clerk wouldn't accept her license. Well, I guess that's the way Pissy wants it.
Feb 26, 2014, 5:39 pm
#4
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Not Surprised. Is anyone surprised. This is the same agency that had an agent that though my brown Official US Passport was not valid.
As I have posted in the past, several of my friends and distant family who live in New Mexico get that all the time from people-TSA and many others.
New Mexico- Not New, Not Mexico...
Glad to see D.C. getting to share the love!
As I have posted in the past, several of my friends and distant family who live in New Mexico get that all the time from people-TSA and many others.
New Mexico- Not New, Not Mexico...
Glad to see D.C. getting to share the love!
Feb 26, 2014, 5:54 pm
#5
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Not Surprised. Is anyone surprised. This is the same agency that had an agent that though my brown Official US Passport was not valid.
As I have posted in the past, several of my friends and distant family who live in New Mexico get that all the time from people-TSA and many others.
New Mexico- Not New, Not Mexico...
Glad to see D.C. getting to share the love!
As I have posted in the past, several of my friends and distant family who live in New Mexico get that all the time from people-TSA and many others.
New Mexico- Not New, Not Mexico...
Glad to see D.C. getting to share the love!
I asked 'did you even look at the licence? It says CANADA on it'
Yet another one thought it was a British licence (despite the fact that UK is in the EU and EU member state licences have the EU circle with stars on it with country code.)
(I still hold a driving licence but it is issued by a different area, and does not have my photo on it.)
Feb 26, 2014, 6:03 pm
#6
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Put the blame where it belongs.
I have never heard anyone suggest that TSA managers are underpaid. Above every employee pulling a stunt like this, there is a chain of well-paid management allowing and enabling this level of performance - a level that is rarely found or tolerated in your average Dunkin Donuts or Pizza Hut.
Federalize ≠ professionalism
Higher pay without professional management ≠ better TSO performance.
That said, this TSO did handle her lack of knowledge appropriately when she escalated to a senior employee.
Feb 26, 2014, 6:45 pm
#9
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Feb 26, 2014, 6:48 pm
#10
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But I can't resist mentioning that when I was in grad school in DC I had some stationary printed up (this was before we printed our own stationary on the computer) that said the address was in: "Washington, District of Columbia." Which is officially correct as the City of Washington was once one of several cities in the Federal District until they were sent back to Virginia or merged into Washington.
The DC post office was unable to deal with this address and kept sending back my mail as "undeliverable" or sending it to Seattle for an address check.
Finally, got new stationary.
Can't blame that on the TSA!
Feb 26, 2014, 7:34 pm
#11
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For a while there before global entry the poor guys at TSA Dulles would not accept the Sevis card issued by Homeland Security as a valid ID. Now I can walk into the country with it. I used it regularly just to see what they would do. Supervisors equally clueless and hostile. I confirmed with HQ it was on the acceptable ID list but that did not help at Dulles.
Feb 26, 2014, 7:44 pm
#12
Join Date: Sep 2011
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For a while there before global entry the poor guys at TSA Dulles would not accept the Sevis card issued by Homeland Security as a valid ID. Now I can walk into the country with it. I used it regularly just to see what they would do. Supervisors equally clueless and hostile. I confirmed with HQ it was on the acceptable ID list but that did not help at Dulles.
Feb 26, 2014, 8:20 pm
#13
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Unfortunately, this is not limited to TSA officers. We've had police officers in a number of jurisdictions do this to people from the territories like Guam, USVI, Puerto Rico, CNMI and American Samoa. Sad how ignorant we are about the territories
Feb 26, 2014, 8:20 pm
#14
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Prior to the advent of PreCheck, I lost track of the number of times that the TSA didn't recognize my NEXUS card or Canadian Driver's License. Of course, speaking to supervisors, filing complaints, etc. never did any good. It's a pathetic reflection on the training program (or lack thereof) for a job where a minimal level of knowledge is even required in the first place.