Harvard Business Review: Simple Ways the TSA Could Make Customers Happier
Jul 24, 2011, 3:05 pm
#46
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
I will repeat "I need to see my belongings" with increasing volume until everyone at the checkpoint knows I need to see them. Most times the first inside voice request is enough. Occasionally it is the 3rd. Once, it was the 4th. When you are telling them their own rules, no amount of volume should be considered interfering. It is they that are interfering with the screening process by not following their own rules for the screening process.
Jul 24, 2011, 9:18 pm
#47
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,617
Problem is, as SATTSO pointed out, many passengers can't follow simple instructions. Not saying that this justifies yelling them out; just pointing out that it gets frustrating from a TSO perspective. I agree that there are many better alternatives than barking out instructions. Just explaining why it's done so often.
Jul 24, 2011, 9:31 pm
#48
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: twitter:TSAABUSEWATCH
Posts: 100
The Blue Shirts that serve TSA have the audacity to get angry and yell at passengers for not following rules that are secret (except when they are being screamed aloud by someone without skills to do anything but)
Then these same Blue Shirts feign surprise when they find their victims do not like being yelled at.
We get sleep at-night-enabling excuses like "When we touch your resistance, its not sexual assault", or "Some passengers welcome the X-Ray body chambers because they don't have to get "patted down", or "saying your name makes you safe from terrorism".
Between the sexual assualts, the secret rules, and the outright silly procedures, TSA has become an parody of itself, it's operatives and our country.
The terrorist have won, and they couldn't have done it without the Blue Shirts that serve TSA.
Jul 24, 2011, 9:43 pm
#49
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: SJC
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 1,628
Twice. This has happened twice.
Jul 24, 2011, 11:04 pm
#50
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,702
Calming a child down does not allow or start screening. It calms the child down, and that is it.
Jul 24, 2011, 11:06 pm
#51
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,702
Well, I can say, based upon my experiences, most parents do not think as you. Over the years, I can not tell you how many times I have heard parents instruct their children that if there is a problem in the airport, perhaps they get lost to find a TSA employee in the previously white and now blue shirt.
Jul 24, 2011, 11:07 pm
#53
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,702
But I'll be saving a special piece of candy for you....
Jul 24, 2011, 11:11 pm
#55
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,702
[B]Bart[B] you know my words were sinister. I am, after all, a TSA employee! But how dare you accuse FlyerTalk members of twisting words!
Jul 24, 2011, 11:14 pm
#57
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,702
Maybe he wants to be on the same level as most FlyerTalk members? Seriously, it seems the FlyerTalk community can not control itself in using names to talk about TSA employees, and the moderators have all but given up on attempting to end it, so why shouldn't he call a cupcake a cupcake? Fair is fair, right?
Jul 24, 2011, 11:48 pm
#58
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Arizona, USA
Posts: 2,403
One of my friends thinks that the best people to be TSOs would be those with Down Syndrome. They would be meticulously attentive to rules, polite, and it would be impossible to get angry with them.
I'm sure that would raise all kinds of political uproar, so that plan won't fly.
Instead, I think that the recommendations from HBS just need to be fine-tuned:
1. Barking is the focal point of the problem. I'd like to see a "silent checkpoint" system. At Frankfurt and Roissy, many checkpoints have a "concierge" at the entrance to each WTMD/x-ray. The "concierge" says hello, ensures that everything is in order (belts, jackets, liquids). This averts problems before they transpire, and ensures a sense of service rather than authority.
2. Get rid of the badges. Even police wear names on their uniforms. TSOs are so fearful of retaliation that they remain nameless. This is an offense to them and to passengers. They dehumanize themselves by remaining nameless, and the dehumanization extends to their treatment of passengers.
3. Announcements and videos don't work. Airports are a cacophany. It's safer, more courteous, and more effective to address passengers individually.
4. Inconsistency--the trademark of the TSA--makes little sense. The cover story that it "keeps bad guys on their toes" is a thinly-veiled attempt to conceal disorganization and mismanagement.
I think we need to do the following:
1. Praise the TSA for making some good changes. I support trusted traveler programs (I love my Global Entry card), and less-revealing, non-radioactive MMR equipment is a valuable step in the right direction.
2. Encourage the TSA to ask for external feedback. The HBS suggestions were unsolicited. The TSA, however, needs to listen to passengers, consultants, and other stakeholders. We have thoughtful suggestions that would not compromise security, so it's time for them to start listening.
3. As others have mentioned, the TSA works hard to look incompetent and disorganized. Having a single person guard the WTMD, last name spelling, and double-TDC inspections make the TSA appear wasteful, messy, and uncoordinated. Why not take a moment to look professional, organized, and polite?
4. Teach coping skills. TSOs face a great deal of stress due to lousy management, rules that are impossible to enforce, and laws that make sense to nobody. Given this mismanagement, the TSA could at least offer its staff seminars and guidelines on how to manage their stress.
I'm sure that would raise all kinds of political uproar, so that plan won't fly.
Instead, I think that the recommendations from HBS just need to be fine-tuned:
1. Barking is the focal point of the problem. I'd like to see a "silent checkpoint" system. At Frankfurt and Roissy, many checkpoints have a "concierge" at the entrance to each WTMD/x-ray. The "concierge" says hello, ensures that everything is in order (belts, jackets, liquids). This averts problems before they transpire, and ensures a sense of service rather than authority.
2. Get rid of the badges. Even police wear names on their uniforms. TSOs are so fearful of retaliation that they remain nameless. This is an offense to them and to passengers. They dehumanize themselves by remaining nameless, and the dehumanization extends to their treatment of passengers.
3. Announcements and videos don't work. Airports are a cacophany. It's safer, more courteous, and more effective to address passengers individually.
4. Inconsistency--the trademark of the TSA--makes little sense. The cover story that it "keeps bad guys on their toes" is a thinly-veiled attempt to conceal disorganization and mismanagement.
I think we need to do the following:
1. Praise the TSA for making some good changes. I support trusted traveler programs (I love my Global Entry card), and less-revealing, non-radioactive MMR equipment is a valuable step in the right direction.
2. Encourage the TSA to ask for external feedback. The HBS suggestions were unsolicited. The TSA, however, needs to listen to passengers, consultants, and other stakeholders. We have thoughtful suggestions that would not compromise security, so it's time for them to start listening.
3. As others have mentioned, the TSA works hard to look incompetent and disorganized. Having a single person guard the WTMD, last name spelling, and double-TDC inspections make the TSA appear wasteful, messy, and uncoordinated. Why not take a moment to look professional, organized, and polite?
4. Teach coping skills. TSOs face a great deal of stress due to lousy management, rules that are impossible to enforce, and laws that make sense to nobody. Given this mismanagement, the TSA could at least offer its staff seminars and guidelines on how to manage their stress.
Jul 25, 2011, 12:18 am
#60
Join Date: Mar 2007
Programs: AA 1MM
Posts: 3,182
Perhaps like others who undoubtedly rode the short bus in their younger days, we should give TSOs a gold star every time they can go an entire day using only their inside voice.