chollie

Very strange. It appears that the TSA supervisor changed the rules right after the local news media reached out to the mother whose breast milk was going to be confiscated..

I wonder what the 'academy' taught this supervisor about breast milk?

petaluma1

Notice @ASKTSA's response to the woman began with "We're sorry for any frustration", putting it all on the woman. Their response should have begun with: "We're sorry our employee gave you the wrong information."

Boggie Dog

TSA isn't sorry for its abuse of travelers.

petaluma1

^^

sunshinekid

Did you see her follow up tweet, that a different TSO says she did not have to have the baby with her? A Supervisor does not know the rules for TSA? Thanks Peter Neffenger and John Pistole for all that high quality training that screener go through.

However, just to play screenre advocate, tsa.gov says breast milk is allowed in "reasonable quantities"

On a different page at tsa.gov is:
Breast Milk
Formula, breast milk and juice in quantities greater than 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters are allowed in carry-on baggage and do not need to fit within a quart-sized bag. Remove these items from your carry-on bag to be screened separately from the rest of your belongings. You do not need to travel with your child to bring breast milk. Please see our traveling with children for more information.

Boggie Dog

Who determines what a reasonable quantity is? If it's a front line screener what specific training do they have to allow this determination? I truly believe that TSA makes us less safe.

petaluma1

2 more complaints this morning about screeners and breast milk, both having to do with screeners forcing moms to throw away ice packs for cooling breast milk; that's 4 in one week. TSA policy says:

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/special-p...eling-children

That quote given, where "above" is I'm not certain.

Yep, that "training academy" is doing a bang-up job.

chollie

John Kelly has never breast fed a child, and apparently his wife never has either.

Or maybe they just fly private. Or for some reason they are above suspicion. Like they've had a background check or something to prove they can be trusted.

sunshinekid

tsa.gov has this


"The final decision rests with the TSA officer on whether an item is allowed through the checkpoint."

40000+ individual rule makers.

Boggie Dog

And not one who can make such a determination.

petaluma1

One wonders if there is anyone at TSA who has the ability to understand what could happen to breast milk/formula/milk if it is allow to remain warm for a period of time. IIRC, breast milk can be at room temp for only 4 hours before it needs to be thrown away.

And it can't be refrozen if it thaws.

FliesWay2Much

They have to do this because any semblance of commin sense would blow the lid off the War on Liquids farce.

GUWonder

They are of an age and and era in America where breastfeeding was considered mainly for the poor -- that despite the standard WHO advice even for high-income countries being that children should be on breastfed diets (whenever possible) until well over 1 years of age. He and his wife had chidren born some 3 decades ago or so.

For those who think the TSA gives people a tough time over human breastmilk, you should see what the TSA and its LHR/UK equivalents do to men traveling alone with infants/toddlers who are on breastmilk diets. The screeners sometimes try to come up with rules about "how much" nourishment the children need for trips and try to give such parents an unnecessarily hard time.

He and his wife are de facto exempted from TSA rules whenever they want.

Boggie Dog

There is a significant difference between allowing an item and determining how much of any given item is a reasonable amount. I would suggest that NO TSA SCREENER is equipped to make a determination on how much breast milk, liquid medication, or other such items are a reasonable amount. TSA screeners can have very limited educations and I don't think anything in their training can create the knowledge base required for such decisions.

chollie

Part of the issue is the ridiculous on-going LGA restrictions, ignoring the ability of someone to take 8 ounces of liquid nasty divided up into perfectly legal <3.4 ounce containers. Instead of asking if the liquid being presented poses a threat by its very chemical nature, or if it exceeds their 'quantity' rule, they get hung up on how much milk a parent NEEDS. This is none of their darn business. TSA has zero business deciding how much milk (or anything else) is appropriate or reasonable for the pax's intended trip.

If I want to take four pounds of raw carrots and a baggie full of timothy hay, it is none of a screener's business why I want to take it. If it doesn't present a threat to aviation security, shut up and let me pass.

TSA has no business ever asking 'why would you want to take this item?' It is none of their business. Their only concern should be 'is this item, however weird it seems to me, a hazard to aviation security'. If the answer is 'no', then the item(s) should be allowed, whether or not it makes sense to the screener.

IMHO, the recent increased harassment of pax with breast milk is coming directly from HQ. It's happening at too many different airports to be the result of one stupid FSD.

John Kelly, obsessed with women's breast milk and vigorously stoking barely post-pubescent male genitals. Maybe when he gets his payoffs from all new expensive hardware to tackle the 'new' threat presented by electronics, he'll back off a bit on breast milk and genitals.