Originally Posted by internationalgal
Bart: Here are a little more facts for you. My friend was travelling on standby for his vacation, as he is a purser with a major North American carrier.
When he did not make the flight (it was full) he returned to the counter to try with another carrier, and was subjected to the exact same treatment a second time around -the same night, by the same very rude screener. I mean- Isn,t this a bit much?
I can assure you that there was absolutely NO provocation on his part, precisely because he works for an airline ( and he has a reputation as being one of the most easy-going polite persons around). In fact that is why he was afraid of commenting or complaining: since he must go through this sometimes several times a day, he is ( as many flight crews I know) very afraid to cause any type of incident which could bring him difficulties at work in the future.
Thank you for the information about bringing a supervisor etc, but that is precisely the situation he would avoid at all cost for fear of being tagged in any way and encountering further harassment when he is working and on thigh schedule. It is clearly a no win situation, but it still needs to be reported somehow. Where can one write about this?
Thanx
Sounds to me that this happened late in the evening. I'm guessing that because of the fact that the very same screener screened your friend the second time around which suggests that a skeleton crew was manning the checkpoint. The good news here is that it will be easy for the Federal Security Director, or FSD, to narrow down the names of who was working that night.
I suggest that your friend write a letter to the FSD of that airport. Addressing the letter to: "FSD, TSA c/o ____Airport" along with the airport address should get it into the right hands if he is unable to find the correct address.
The tone of the letter shouldn't be accusatory; instead, it should stick to the facts of what happened and be as detailed as possible (terminal, airline, date, times, descriptions of persons involved, chronological sequence of events, etc.). It is important to highlight the fact that no explanation was offered and that he was ordered to lower his trousers (if that's how it happened; not doubting you but don't want to unduly influence you neither).
I suggest a copy of that letter be furnished to his employer as well and annotated in the original letter to the FSD (just put CF: and the name of the airline employer at the end of the letter just below the signature). This will accomplish two things: it will let the FSD know that this is an airline employee issue that has the airline director's attention as well; and it will allow the airline director the opportunity to follow up on this complaint directly with the FSD. I'm certain that this matter is of great interest to the airline director not only for his employees but for how his passengers are also treatedl.
You are entitled to be treated with dignity by TSA screeners. If there is any request that appears out of the ordinary, you are entitled to an explanation. You should never feel intimidated to the point of not speaking up when you feel you are being abused or mistreated by a screener.
The only thing I caution you or anyone else who complains is to leave emotional content out of the complaint; it makes it difficult for the FSD to sort out the facts and take appropriate action. What I mean by that is calling TSA screeners jackbooted thugs or describing their procedures as Gestapo-like. All that does is stir up more emotions and makes it difficult to define the problem and subsequently solve it. It's okay to include that he felt humiliated or bullied; that's different because it adds context and perspective. You want to win the FSD's understanding in your letter not put him (or her) on the defensive with inflammatory remarks. I mention this because people tend to write "heat-seekers" which may satisfy the brief emotional need of "telling someone off" but do very little to correct the wrong and prevent the exact same thing from happening to yet another passenger.
If you don't mind, please let me know how this turns out.