TSA needs to change
 

I think the TSA needs an overhaul and emulate Israel. If we want to avoid people breaching the security and flying without a proper boarding pass or stowaways there first needs to be vehicle checkpoints before entering the airport terminal zone sort of like an entrance to a parking garage where the door closes behind you upon entering and the exit door only opens after the check. If you are deemed a risk you will be escorted off the property by the TSA.

If you are picking up a passenger you will be asked to verify the name and flight details or if you are a person who is a plane spotter or wants to visit the terminal or escort someone through security you would need to register 72 hours before on the TSA APIS system failure to do so would result in denied access except for outdoor pickups which can only occur up to 40 minutes before and after the scheduled landing time.

Drop offs can occur 4 hours prior the flight up until 90 minutes prior.

Before entering the terminal everyone must show an ID.

Before entering the checkin area passengers will have their checked bags screened by an X-ray or hand bag check along with answering questions.

When you are cleared and deemed low risk by an overall ranking you can take liquids keep shoes on as well as belts and laptops. Higher risk passengers would still follow today's procedures and go to a different secondary screening area away from the general area so as to not slow things down.

Your ranking would be based on past travel history if you have cooperated with the search your current standing whether you have a criminal record or not but it would not be based on religion or other discriminating factors like applying for a credit card.

Arriving passengers may also be subjected to an X-Ray screen if deemed a threat before being allowed into the public area. At baggage claims all bags and bag tags would be matched with your ID.

Customs would also be more secure with an exit booth whereby alll Passports are verified and registered to be sure passengers have no warrants etc.

What are your thoughts? This is my 2 cents. So essentially the TSA Pre Check and Global Entry would be implemented on a day to day basis via the ranking and no fee or application.

I'll Go First...
 

Didn't realize it was April 1st already.

Oy vey!

But on second thought, perhaps such a plan would rid the airports of the TSA - because it would bring air travel to a halt in this country. With no air travel, no need for the TSA.

My doctor has been advising me to get more exercise, maybe walking ORD-LAX is just what I need!

Total rubbish. Not one shred of evidence that the US needs this.

So, this all transfers a lot of air travel to the road. The latter having a death toll by passenger*mile higher by many orders of magnitude, all this ends up doing is killing more people.
And the terrorists win..

HUH?? So you want the security theater to be even scarier, more expensive and overreaching to the outside of airports? I can just imagine the gridlock this would cause at airports like LAX. Traffic would be backed up for miles. Not to mention the thought of TSA taking Starbucks and water bottles out of vehicles. Absolute worst idea I've read on a message board in a long long time.

Airports don't need more security. They need much less, more effective security. At this point not having the TSA is better than what we have now. Proposing more of a circus is just nuts.

No words. Just....no....words.

OP, why do you think steps like this are needed? What has happened that makes doing these things necessary or even reasonable?

This.

Why in the world? How much do you think this would add to the cost of airline tickets? How would you propose dealing with buses and trains that come directly into airports?

Hey, it's a slow day. :cool:
Yes.
No. No, no no no no.
Are they doing that? Where?
For the most part, the airline checks for a proper boarding pass at the gate. Why does TSA need to get involved.
Huh? Recent stories about stowaways were people (stupidly) hiding in wheel wells, not seated in 13B, apart from that odd repeat-offender woman.
Vehicle checkpoints would ensure that people don't (later) breach the TSA security checkpoint and that they have a "proper boarding pass" (before they've checked in at the airport??) or that they won't stow away? How?
Uh, no, because TSA's idea of "risk" is "anyone intending to fly."
Why?
What magic occurs in the 40 minutes before and after a flight that makes a person safer?
What if I've checked out of my hotel and just want to hang at the lounge for 5 hours? What if I'm running late and someone's dropping me off 30 minutes before the flight?
So a checkpoint before the checkpoint. What about another checkpoint on the highway before you turn off onto the road to the airport?
More checkpoints. I guess unemployment is going to fall.
Oh, well, thanks. Who decided I was "low risk"? TSA thinks everyone is a risk.
Wait a minute - higher risk people got escorted "off the property by the TSA" five or six checkpoints ago.
Frankly, religion and whether you've applied for a credit card are as accurate at determining risk as your past travel history or your willingness to cooperate with the search. Which is to say, not at all.
Deemed a threat by whom. Are you x-raying their bags (the ones you x-rayed 3 (or was it 4) times at the departing airport)? Or x-raying the passengers themselves? Do you have medical training for that?
By this point there are so few passengers who have passed the 16 checkpoints and continue to be considered "low risk" that I guess that won't take long.
Isn't that what the customs officer does now? So you want a second booth to do the same thing again?
My thoughts: TSA needs to change. But not in the direction of more checks and more discretion in assigning "risk."

Yes, TSA needs to change. Not like OP has suggested.

It needs to be taken apart, most of its staff sacked as incompetent and return airport screening checkpoints to the airports and airlines. TSA, at most, needs to be a small office under either the FAA or DoT that sets the base standards. Those standards should be based on what happens at checkpoints in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and/or Australia (domestic).

You forgot to put in the emoticons to show whether you're serious or kidding. :D^:rolleyes:

If you're kidding, this is hilarious, much like the suggestions to implement martial law around all college campuses during sporting events so the kids won't tear the place apart after a big win or big loss.

If you're serious, I have no words for how ridiculous all of these suggestions are. The United States is not Isreal. We're not surrounded on all sides by countries dedicated to our violent destruction, now do we suffer bombings, riots, or mass shootings at our airports on a routine basis. There is no need whatsoever for such draconian, un-Constitutional, horrendously expensive methodology.