Pistole on Trusted-Traveller program

Pistole's interview in Denver: http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-N...raveler-pilot/

I get the feeling the only benefit the trusted traveler program will provide is not taking off shoes.

It sounds like they are still going run trusted travelers through the whole body X-Ray Chambers and its associated cancer risks.

I'll go further and speculate that opt-out won't be allowed in the Trusted traveler line either.

I think the greatest insight is the head of TSA saying we don't have to answer BDO questions:

"Thousands of people have done this, and literally a very small number said they did not want to answer the questions, and that's fine."

Now, whether he's referring to it being "fine" in terms of their testing of the program or "fine" in terms of "we'll just let it go, nothing we can do about it" is a different matter...

So, I guess he counts someone telling a SPOTNik to shove their question up sideways as "answering the question."

Interesting that he totally misses the point that there might have been no shoe bombs even if they didn't do the 100% shoe carnival. Or that it was almost 5 years after the shoe bomber that they went to 100% shoes off, and there were no shoe bombs during that period.

This guy is an idiot. I also wonder if the air-traveler count misstep was a transcription error or if Pistole actually said it. If he actually believes there have been only 5.5 million air travelers since Dec 2001, it would explain a lot.

Of course, pretty much the rest of the world doesn't require you to remove your shoes (or in many cases even prohibit liquids) and they haven't had any shoe bombs (or liquid bombs) either.

Clearly not taking off your shoes is much more effective at preventing shoe bombs than taking them off is.

"We have had over 5.5 million people travel since Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, and there have been no shoe bombs because we have people take their shoes off."

The fact that we have not had any more shoe bombers is not due to the fact we have to take off our shoes, its due to the fact that nobody has attempted to blow up a plane. His inability to think logically or rationally should preclude him from being in this position.

"Last year a travel association did a survey of travel complaints, and the number one complaint was the high cost of tickets — fortunately, it wasn't a security issue. The second was the hassle of taking your shoes off. It wasn't body scans. It wasn't pat-downs. It was taking your shoes off and the hassle of it."

Again, more faulty logic and manipulating facts to serve his needs. When was the survey taken, pre or post MASS PUBLICITY about the molestations?

"There is a recent study that was done that validated the [ethics] of behavior detection"

By whom was the study conducted? What questions were asked? When was the study conducted?

I would love a chance to interview John Pistole. I'm sick of all these softball questions. This man and his cronies in the Senate have NEVER been made to account for their actions.

There is no 100% shoes off still today. Every day, thousands of people fly over the US without taking off their shoes. Many countries allow you to board to the US without doing so. Also, flights from Canada to Latin America don't require shoe removal, but fly in US airspace.

Almost every time I do travel I have encounted enoyed TSO workers.
Why?

Cause I have only tiny shoes on and no socks?!

I have been told over and over "is that the only thing you have on your feet".

And then they look really pissed off.

Like they want me to have more things on so they can hassle me.

I guess I'll print out of a copy of his interview to shove into their face, if they try to ask me any questions. TSAs job is to make sure I am not carrying WEI, not find out who I was meeting with, etc..

He says pax don't have to answer questions. No problem.

However, if he were not trying to mislead the public, he would have added that not answering questions will have consequences - the rigorous secondary, which, IIRC, starts with...BDOs asking questions.

Went through BOS yesterday and noticed that if you "volunteer" to go through the cancer boxes, you don't have to remove your shoes.

Of course, I "chose" the WTMD line and had to take off my shoes. Nobody played 20 questions with me or tried to send me to the NOS.

Terminal C - JetBlue.

Is this something new?

Sounds like they're trying to entice people to use the cancer box. This also shows us that we could all keep our shoes on, rather than some on and others off..

It may be related to this page:

http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/expedited_screening.shtm

Oh, noes! A roadmap for the tewwowists! Haven't we been lectured to by security professionals that bad guys use children as mules? Nobody should have to take their shoes off.

This would be nothing new.