Originally Posted by
eyecue
DEN has had at least one of those scanners for almost 2 years. That is why it is so hard to understand what the fuss is about. Was it the pat down that brought everything to a head? You are correct about them being slower than a wtmd. That is perhaps the biggest drawback. The media has been reporting the wrong information about opt out day and saying the people are going to opt out from everything on the 24th just create a backlog. I can not see the point of that. If they opt out of ait that is one thing, opt out of the alternative patdown and you will be asked to leave the CP. It could be a huge waste of resources.
Maybe it's not just the new patdown. Maybe it is also that the scanners are now
primary. We were originally assured that they would only be used to resolve secondaries. If they still were only being used to resolve WTMD alarms, you wouldn't be hearing nearly as much kickback and the lines would be moving a lot faster because far fewer people would be going through them (or being patted down).
Not only do you have an aggressive new patdown, you have far more people being patted down than before. Also, when you alarmed the WTMD, you usually got a second chance - you know, the alarm went off and the TSO would remind you to empty pockets, etc, to help you clear. Now many people get sent to the NoS and still get a full-body frisk, even if the anomaly is something in their pocket - or nothing at all.