davetravels

JUST REPORTED on MSNBC

DL considering refunds - CO / US / AA Will NOT!

"Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott said Monday that her airline is issuing refunds on a case-by-case basis for customers worried about the new screening steps."

Story on Yahoo:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20..._cancellations

s1c3r1a1b3b3l1e1

This sounds like the first step in documenting how much it affects the bottom line. I hope DL then passes that information on to the TSA in an effort to make changes.

domcharles

Way to go, DELTA!

houserulz77

My only worry:

TSA fights back

Delta Boarding Pass = Full Cavity Search from some guy named Bruce who can work at an airport, but not within 501 feet of a playground or school.

JSFox

After my wife learned a bit about the potential radiation probs from the backscatter machines, that the person viewing her nude image would most likely be male, and that her only option to this was to be groped, she doesn't want to get near a TSA checkpoint.

DL gets props for refunding our tix with little hassle. I've been a huge critic of DL over IT issues, FF policies, and a variety of other things, but they done good on this - almost good enough to get us to leave UA and come back to DL.

davetravels

So what will you do? Just stop flying altogether?

hockeystl

This is exactly what my wife has decided... While I must use air travel to earn and feed my family, the rest of Team HockeySTL will not be boarding any DL (or any other carrier) flights until this TSA lunacy is resolved. I personally shared our decision with one of the main suits at DL who sounded empathetic to our decision.

When enough $$$ stops flowing to the travel industry, they'll finally push back at the TSA and force them to back down (like they've already done as it applies to groping of young children and pilots, etc)

motytrah

I wouldn't get your hopes up. It's hard enough to get CSRs to follow published policy sometimes, let alone this.

N639DL

I've heard AA giving refunds as well. I'm glad DL is doing this willingly, but they should not be the ones giving people their money back. DL does not regulate airport security, therefore it shouldn't be coming out of their pocket.

RBrownTN

While I do the occasional business trip, my GM status was earned the hard way through leisure trips to Europe on my dime for my and the Mrs.

Make no mistake. That hard-earned status is *very* painful to let go, but till the idiocy abates, we'll choose to stay home instead.

ssk1127

Good PR move. I think the whole fuss is media-generated really. I'm sure there's a few people who are indignant about the whole thing, but the vast majority are OK with the procedure. I've been through it myself a few times and it's no big deal. To offer compensation for the small number of truly offended people likely won't cost DL much but will be worth a significant amount of positive PR.

GrizShel

I disagree, the majority of people I know are unhappy with these new practices. What type of TSA practices would not be acceptable to you? Will you trust all administrations present and future with keeping these types of practices under control? (but I disagree with your premise that it is not already out of control).

PRWeezer

There are so many posts on this & I have refrained from sharing the experience of my friend who uses a wheelchair, and who has endured a pat down EVERY time she has flown for years (she is an Elite-level Delta flier). And by the way, she is amused by the fact that now that more everyday folks are subjected to her reality that this is now news. Don't even ask her about the times she has traveled with her children only to be separated by different security screenings.

In her experience it has gotten more invasive lately. Beyond the 'old' pat down they now feel all through her hair, put fingers inside her waistband, touch her crotch (the screener says: "I will touch inside your legs up to the point of resistance"), among other new & more thorough techniques. Every single time (now & in the past) her pat-down screener has been female. I would guess that most posters here would agree that in comparison they don't have it so bad if they endure that only occasionally, not every time. Or, as you suggest, they'll just stay home.

I've been groped by security agents in Europe (my friend w brst implants was groped even more than I on one trip!). A couple of weeks ago in ATL a TSA agent asked me to take off a sweater, I said I was uncomfortable revealing the tank-top underneath. She said, then I will need to do a pat down...I walked through that xray in my undergarment faster than you can say boo. At least I had the choice.

jimrpa

i'm not a huge fan of the security theater that has been foisted upon us by boi george and darth cheney, however i'm not sure that the blanket damning of every employee at every checkpoint is an appropriate response either. These folks are being indoctrinated by their leaders that their jobs are an important and appropriate deterrent to a very real threat, and that the american public is demanding the response that they are providing. The American public has to make it clear to our political leaders that we do NOT demand this type of response the security threat our nation faces and we should demand that our leaders find another solution that does not intrude on the privacy of citizens or impede on our ability to freely travel. The economic loss alone from the time wasted by the current security theater is staggering.

Oh, and let me add - IN BEFORE THE LOCK

davetravels

The other angle I first thought of when I saw just how intrusive the pat downs can be - literally pressing and running fingers and hands into and around crevices, was that I just can't imagine being a TSA screener, who took a job expecting to assist and direct people here and there, check documents, view a monitor of x-rayed luggage, wand a pax, maybe a rare but occasional frisking of some sort, but suddenly, your job description has changed in a MAJOR WAY!!! It's probably horrible for some pax to be subjected to this, but for your job decription to suddenly change to include physical body inspections, up to borderline groping, and possibly being charged and arrested by a disgruntled pax who feels you may have crossed the line from an R rated pat down to X rated! Wow! This would have to be mortifying for some, and I expect that there could be a mass exodus from the TSA to the unemployment office!! A TSA employee backlash was mentioned ever so briefly today on TV, but I have a feeling we'll hear more about if before too long!

Also a side note that MSNBC reported that some men are supposed to wear kilts au natural underneath tomorrow for the protest!!!