Originally Posted by
jucundus
MCI "security" is provided by a contractor called First Line, IRRC. This has been the case since Fall 2003 at least.
It really gives us the worst of both worlds, since the TSOs are much more arbitrary and make up their own rules much more frequently than the "real" TSA. Once, when I had reason to complain, First Line told me to complain to TSA, who told me to complain to First Line, and so on ad infinitum.
ROC security is provided by the private company MacNeil. ROC is not a small airport. There's one or two TSA higher level drones that walk around to ensure the "world class" security envisioned by TSA is achieved.
Once, in the early days of the war on liquids 2 of their screeners and a supervisor lined up to confiscate my solid deodorant. When I E-mailed in my complaint to the internet address on the MacNeil complaint form, I got an almost immediate response from their security manager, concurrence they were wrong, and an agreement to reimburse me for the wrongly confiscated item. Even though they idiotically blew the intial call, their response and concern to resolve the issue was miles beyond anything I've ever seen from TSA in any set of circumstances anywhere.
Can't line up with "worst of both worlds."