Rommie2k6

Going to start a rant on what I perceive to be baseless and useless protocol that TSA and airline employees practice.

Backscatter scanner. The whole reason for its development and deployment was to be faster and better than metal detectors. When it was first launched, you leave your clothing on including the belt. But in recent years I am seeing TSA <redacted by moderator> asking me to remove my belt when it has never been an issue for years. It is not a bloody metal detector <redacted by moderator>!

The other thing that drive me nuts is employees, not security checking my boarding pass before I get in line. It used to be that these people would help with direction and other misc stuff. But now they want to check boarding pass too? I know where I am going, and it is the TSA that will check my boarding pass! So why are these <redacted by moderator> wasting my time? Some <redacted by moderator> will even block my path if I refuse to show boarding pass. Who the fark do they think they are?

The last peeve is YMMV depending on airport. Because of stupid airport designs, sometimes the lounge I want to visit is in another part and I need to clear security at another terminal. Some airport don't allow this because you are in the 'wrong' terminal. If the airport was dumb enough not to connect all gates after security, we should not be penalized for their incompetence.

So what other mindless protocol have you seen at the airport?

javabytes

Aside from pretty much everything the TSA does?

bo1953

Sounds like it is time to consider private jet travel to alleviate your pain and challenges with TSA and airline reps.... at least until they get their act together enough, to help out....

Silver Fox

......and releaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase.

Boggie Dog

OP, you do know that there are no Backscatter scanners in use currently, right?

I don't think there was ever a claim that Whole Body Imagers, Backscatter or MMW, were faster than Walk Thru Metal Detectors. The idea was to find non-metallic threat items. Regardless, WBI's are flawed all the same.

chollie

I'll have to disagree on this, although it's not worth trying to dig up cites.

IIRC, in the early days, pax were assured that the NoS would be as fast as the WTMD, and for many pax (those with metal implants that set off the WTMD), the process would be even faster.

There might have been some truth to that. A human operator manning the BSX wasn't likely to flag too many bald heads, faces, weaves/fros or bare arms for resolution gropes.

Boggie Dog

I tried going back and finding the early TSA Blog postings on Whole body Imagers. All of the links I found are dead.

I don't recall TSA leaning on speed for the devices.

JoeBas

It's irrelevant, since Neffy's focus on "Thoroughness" (THOROUGHLY checking people's crotches 5 or 6 times) over "Throughput" renders any previous thoughts regarding speed and efficiency null and void.

Boggie Dog

Neffy learned a lesson about focusing on one aspect over all others. It's a balancing act but one that must be done to maintain the public's belief in Security Theater.

petaluma1

Many reports this week about screeners using their fingers, not the palm or back of hand, during genital gropes.

WillCAD

The reason for deployment of the whole body imaging tech was to find things that the WTMD can't find - non-metalic explosives, such as those used by the Shoe Bomber and the Underwear Bomber. Both of those cases were specifically cited as perfect opportunities for WBI, that the WBI would have found both of those bombs and they'd never have made it onto the plane (which is false in the case of the shoe bomber, since WBI has enough trouble with screening shoes that shoes are now screened via the carry-on x-ray).

WBI no longer uses human operators looking at nude pictures of the suspect, er, body, er, traveler. Today, to address privacy concerns, the WBI uses an Automated Target Recognition software to analyze the scan returns, rather than creating an image. But the ATR is rudimentary, at best. It alarms on thick clothing, folds of cloth, cargo pockets, folds of human flash on obese people, and even sweat. This is why you have to take you belt off - because the ATR would alarm on any and every belt.

WBI isn't really "mindless" per se, and it's far from a "superstition", but like everything else TSA does, they implemented it very poorly based on bad information from the people selling it, they use it totally wrong, and the rank and file barely understand how it works. Hence, it doesn't work at all to do the job it was bought to do.

I don't recall ever hearing WBI speed touted as a benefit for the average traveler, but I do recall hearing about the benefits of a scanner that would not alarm on internal medical metal like screws, pins, plates, and cardiac devices. Of course, as we know, any benefit garnered from that is more than offset by the tremendous delays and invasions arising from WBI's titanic false-alarm rate.

gsoltso

In my personal experience, belts cause many alarms, resulting in more time with TSOs having to pat down the passenger. When the TSOs are asking you to remove the belt, they are actually trying to save you from the chance of having to be patted down because of said alarm.

When TSA rolled out WBI (both backscatter and MMW), the focus was clearing non-metallic threats, not an increase in speed. The difference in speed at GSO is miniscule, maybe an average of 3-5 seconds difference from a WTMD. Other airports may have different experiences in time variations.

chollie

How do you calculate the time at GSO?

As a pax, I calculate the time from the moment I'm directed to move towards the NoS, WTMD or grope station until the time I am free to take my belongings and go.

There is no way that I can clear the WTMD (never alarmed yet) and retrieve my belongings within 3-5 seconds of the time it takes me to be 'satisfactorily' positioned (one arm at my side) for the NoS, the scan completed, and the anomaly grope completed. That has only been permitted once. Normally, from the time I explain (and demonstrate, when the TSO demands it) my physical limitations, it takes a few minutes for a trained <redacted by moderator> to arrive, do the grope, and conduct the mandatory bag search/swab. This year the wait for a <redacted by moderator> has been as long as 20 minutes at ORD.

I understand that at some airports, TSA calculates official wait times starting at the TDC. That may help with TSA planning and PR, but I don't think it's how most pax calculate their wait times. Perhaps something similar is going on with the way GSO and some other airports calculate checkpoint transit times. I think when most pax talk about the time it takes to clear a checkpoint via WTMD vs. NoS, they're not limiting the discussion to the time actually spent being scanned, they are incuding the entire process, including anomaly resolutions or mandatory bag inspections for pax physically incapable of using the NoS.

Boggie Dog

Just the time it takes for a traveler to enter and assume the position for WBI far exceeds the time needed to pass through a WTMD. Add in the scan time and required time just increases. I think proof is evident in how fast Pre Check lines move in comparison to regular lines. There is always a backup for the Whole Body Imager.

chollie

gsoltso's post reflects what I recall seeing posted here when the NoS's were first rolled out and becoming the primary form of screening. The times were supposedly nearly the same for WTMD/NoS pax, and faster for pax whose metal implants no longer alarmed.

I thought the figures were optimistic at best then, and deceptive at worst. I never saw what I considered a valid end-to-end comparison of checkpoint transit times, and that was before I saw how many false positives requiring additional hands-on clearance there were going to be. Perhaps some FSDs choose not to include any of that time in their figures.