kaukau

Not an Ask Bart/TSA thread. Just suggestions for improvement. I'll start it off!

Dear Bart,

I think we can let pax through the WTMD in sandals or flip-flops, footwear that a TSA screener logically deems incapable of concealing anything.

Thank You, Bart. Stay Well!

studentff

1) Liquid/gel/water ban lifted. Maybe temporarily limit pax to no more than 2 L of liquid in carry-ons until policy settles out.

2) All liquid/gel containers must come out of your bag an go in a tray, just like laptops. Screeners will then examine the containers (visual and/or x-ray) for odditities (e.g., gatorade bottle with a divider between two compartments).

3) Screeners then ETD swab the outside of the liquid containers with one swab cloth. This should detect residue of pre-made explosives or major explosive components (ammonium nitrate, glycerine). I'm not sure, but the ETD might even be able to be re-programmed to detect residue of more explosive precursors. But I still don't believe the binary explosive (mix on the plane from "harmless" components) is a credible threat.

Though I don't think this swabbing should slow the process down, if it does, then use one swab on several passengers bags before doing the ETD. Evacuate the terminal if a positive is found for a swab for which the pax has already left. (TSA is good at evacuating terminals, right?) Take reasonable steps to minimize false positives (i.e., tell pax with hand lotion and nitro pills to warn TSA, and don't share those swabs with other passengers.)

Advantages of this solution:

a) Passengers no longer encouraged to smuggle items, which makes them look like bad guys and makes it harder to find the actual bad guys. Now if someone hides a container in a bag, suspicion can actually be rasied that it's a bad guy and not someone trying to avoid buying toothpaste that evening.

b) Liquid containers are actually screened, visually and chemically, instead of being smuggled.

c) Not a silly overreaction.

Oh, and quit this shoe insanity. Go back to swabbing shoes, which actually screens them for explosives, instead of x-raying them, which is just a (bad) show of security theater.

par

if there are concerns, why not allow liquids that have been purchased inside the sterile area. If the sterile area is compromised we have to assume that the plane itself is compromised, in which case no security checkpoints will matter what so ever.

ZeppoX

Any additional tasks require more time and therefore will have queueing and/or cost consequences.

ND Sol

And so do the current regulations, which, as a consequence, require more checked luggage and having to purchase additional items at your destination or in the airport.