End the administrative searches

Just did an opt out at FLL, wasn't too bad. Security was courteous, my complaint isn't with the TSOs here ironically, it's with the entire principle of administrative searches. Just get rid of them.
FWIW the backscatter X ray scares the crap out of me. When I work with radioligands at my university, we all wear radiation badges, use lead shielding, pop KI and minimize exposure. There is no justification for unnecessary risks like this, especially when it does nothing.

Amen!

No more searches without clear, probable cause vs. the harassment we receive now is fine by me. Airlines can conduct searches prior to getting onto their aircraft and can compete on safety vs harassment. Get the federal government 100% the hell out of airport and airline security.

+1 ^

If the TSA went away tomorrow the noise you'd hear from the RDU area would be my happy dance.

Sure it wouldn't be drowned out by the scuffling of 110,000 feet in the unemployment line?

Naah, I'd buy amplifiers!

I'm sure Argenbright will hire some of the good apples when screening is privatized.

One rotten apple does spoil the whole barrel.

Why TSA hasn't figured this out yet is beyond amazing.

Surprisingly, I disagree with that last sentence.

I would support the TSA being made into a regulatory agency under the umbrella of the FAA, responsible for determining what level of security is required at what airports. The implementation of that security would then be wholly up to the airport operator.

This would not only mean that BWI would have tighter security than, say, Merle K "Mudhole" Smith Airport in Corvoda, AK, but that both would be actually implemented by the airport managers themselves.

This is not to say that the current level of security is anything more than a joke, but simply ratcheting back the level of searches isn't enough. The whole system needs to change directions.

No thank you.

The current and past scumbags "in charge" of TSA have proved their incompetence on too many occasions. We should kick the federal government out of our airports forever.

+1 ^

From your lips to God's (or at least Obama's) ears.

Your suggestion is almost the way it used to be arranged. The FAA had the Office of Civil Aviation Security, headed by an FAA Assistant Administrator. They wrote basic guidance & policy, conducted R&D, had a 24/7 watch which was tied into the intelligence and counter-terrorism communities; and, issued warnings as appropriate. Individual airports were empowered to implement these guidelines and policies and tailor them to their own location. To be sure, they had their share of silliness -- the "Did you pack your own bags?" questions, for example. The Argenbrights were given some very basic responsibilities to keep guns and bombs off airplanes. And, darn it, things worked pretty well until we allowed our government to royally screw things up.

Both seem rather unwilling to put DHS in its due place already: the rubbish pile of history.

As long as so many people consent to consent searches, the chances of administrative searches being greatly curtailed is but a dream that will go unrealized.

Wasn't too much fun for me yesterday:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14718711-post210.html

Bruce

While I agree with the sentiments, if you let the airlines do their own security they will go as cheap as possible. One only needs to look at the AS "jack-screw" crash in 2000. Profit will always trump security. Airlines, like pretty much every other business, just cannot seem to grasp that while security/safety are expensive, they are cheap compared to an "accident/incident."

I wish I knew what the right answer was. But I do know that TSA/CATSA are the wrong answer.

I'm willing to take my chances and bet my life on it.

If others feel they need more "security", then let them choose via the free market. Get the federal government 100% the hell out of airline/airport security.