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Originally Posted by mdlee3
(Post 26658743)
I'm a TSO at IND. Our wait times have increased, but they still aren't as bad as the busier airports. What used to be a 10 minute wait during peak times is now maybe 20-25 minutes. We are well staffed at IND and for the last month or so have constantly had 3 lanes open, 2 standard and 1 pre. Sometimes, if the pre line is long, we'll have 2 pre lines open.
I'm lucky being at IND because our LTSOs and STSOs do actually work. They'll take care of the opt-outs, do bag checks, even jump on an AIT as an extra person if there are a lot of the same gender coming up. I know that's not the case at all airports as I've witnesses LTSOs and STSOs standing around at other airports when I've travelled. I think one of the problems at IND is that we went so long with pretty much a 10 minute max. wait that people got used to it so they show up at the last minute expecting to breeze right through and that's just not going to happen right now, especially for the flights departing between say 0700-0830 or 1500-1700. I'm not blaming the passengers here. It's just that for the longest time, that has been the culture of IND and people came to expect that. Another thing that happens at IND is that our FSD and ASFDs will come out and move bins around or divest passengers, freeing us up for the actual screening of those passengers. I am still not blaming passengers for the delays, but there are things that passengers can do to speed up their own portion of the screening process. The following suggestions are assuming the passenger is going through standard screening. At TDC: Have ID and BP ready. You won't believe how many times I'll be at TDC and a woman will have to dig to the bottom of her purse to dig out her ID and BP, which was printed either at a kiosk or the ticket counter. Also, give us one BP and ID at a time. It slows the TDC down a lot if you give them 5 passports and 5 BPs, especially if they are both in different orders. The most annoying is the people that give us multiple passports and multiple BPs for their family, they've taken the time to put one BP in each passport and then you open up the passport and see the BP is for somebody else. Also, if using a mobile BP, don't be talking on the phone when you come up to us. When divesting: These things involve using some common sense when you're packing. Don't place your laptop all the way at the bottom of your duffel bag underneath 6 days worth of clothes. When we say nothing in your pockets, that seriously includes paper, keys, tic-tacs, cell phones, wallets, EVERYTHING. Hold your money or wallet in your hand if you want, but don't have it in your pockets. If you see the people in front of you removing their shoes, don't think that the rules will be different for you. Unless somebody in a blue shirt with a badge has told you to keep your shoes on, you should plan to take them off. We don't require people to take off belts, but we do recommend it. If you've travelled with that belt before and it has alarmed the AIT or the WTMD before, then assume it will this time as well and just remove it. If you haven't travelled with that particular belt before, then just assume it will alarm and remove it. AIT: If you get an alarm that requires a pat-down of sensitive areas (buttocks and groin for men, buttocks, groin, and breasts for women), understand that we have to advise you about what we have to do and offer you a private screening. If you keep interrupting us during the advisements, it's going to take longer. Also, if you get any type of pat-down as a result of the AIT, don't sit there and argue with us saying that nothing should have alarmed because you got rid of all the metal you were carrying. The AIT is NOT a metal detector. Bag checks: This is one of the biggest areas when it comes to slowing down the process for an individual passenger. Don't shove a bottle of water into the bottom of your bag, then claim you don't have one, and then claim that you thought it was ok because you bought it at the airport and it wasn't opened yet. You don't hide things and then lie about hiding them if you thought they were ok to have. Also, I don't care if your knife with an 11" blade has travelled with you for years and has never been questioned by a TSO. If I'm doing the bag check, it's not going anywhere except either to be disposed of or to the mailbox if you decide to mail it to yourself. Opt-outs: People are more than welcome to opt-out and they have every right to do so. It does no good though to opt-out and then complain that you get patted down. We don't hide the fact that opting out will result in you getting a pat-down so you should only be mad at yourself if you're mad at anybody in that situation. Obviously, you folks on here know these tips, but for many others, a trip to the airport brings out all kinds of stupidity. About that knife, the options are to dispose of it or mail it, right? |
Originally Posted by mdlee3
(Post 26658755)
I can't speak for rail stations, but for the presidential candidate events, most of those officers are part of the National Deployment Team so they would most likely be away from their home airports anyway. If they do still need officers to assist, then at least at IND, they only let us volunteer to assist if it's one of our days off so it still doesn't have an impact on the workforce at the airport.
The "National Deployment Team" should be deployed to airports not political events where TSA has no responsibility. |
Originally Posted by RatherBeOnATrain
(Post 26658562)
Mr. Southwell is out of a job:
Full article here: 11 Alive - Hartsfield-Jackson terminates general manager (9:03 PM. EST May 20, 2016) |
Originally Posted by Boggie Dog
(Post 26658891)
Are tightened TSA screening standards partially responsible for the excessive wait times?
About that knife, the options are to dispose of it or mail it, right? The new groin pat-down, which went into effect at the end of January, is the one thing that has slowed us down the most. That's why I encourage every person to remove their belt if they have one on. Other TSOs do as well, but it's not a requirement so all we can do is suggest it. Even if it was a requirement, it wouldn't matter. Just look at how many people leave their laptops in their bag or they take it out and then place something on top of it. My biggest pet peeve about this is when people remove their laptop and place it in a bin and then place the bag in the bin over the laptop. That has the same effect as leaving the laptop in the bag. So to answer your question, I don't really think it's tighter screener standards as much as it is a different, and more time-consuming, way of doing it. There are also 2 recent changes that slow things down at TDC, but not as much as the groin pat-down does. We aren't allowed to accept paper IDs as a primary ID anymore. These don't happen very much, maybe 2-3 a day per checkpoint at IND, but the person that has one always wants to argue with us which slows down the process for that individual passenger. Also, if a passenger has a BP printed from home that won't scan, we have to send that passenger back to the ticker counter or kiosk to get one printed at the airport. This actually happens quite a bit. The other day, I sent 8 people back to the counter in about a 10 minute period, but for each person, I would attempt to scan it a few times on my scanner and then even try the other scanners that were around so they wouldn't have to go back. A process that takes about 15 seconds turns into a task that takes a minute or more if the BP isn't scanning. |
Originally Posted by Boggie Dog
(Post 26658892)
The "National Deployment Team" should be deployed to airports not political events where TSA has no responsibility.
I personally don't see an airport like ATL getting assigned members of the team because ATL has a large pool of potential applicants. Even IND won't get any members of the team assigned to us unless we have a large event, such as hosting the Super Bowl again. The team generally spends a lot of time in Alaska and North Dakota and then will do the Super Bowl, Inauguration, ski season in Colorado, and then hit spring break destinations. |
Originally Posted by mdlee3
(Post 26658947)
There are other options such as taking it out to their car or going back out and giving it to somebody that's not travelling, but more often than not, ppl are going to pick either dispose of it or mailing it.
The new groin pat-down, which went into effect at the end of January, is the one thing that has slowed us down the most. That's why I encourage every person to remove their belt if they have one on. Other TSOs do as well, but it's not a requirement so all we can do is suggest it. Even if it was a requirement, it wouldn't matter. Just look at how many people leave their laptops in their bag or they take it out and then place something on top of it. My biggest pet peeve about this is when people remove their laptop and place it in a bin and then place the bag in the bin over the laptop. That has the same effect as leaving the laptop in the bag. So to answer your question, I don't really think it's tighter screener standards as much as it is a different, and more time-consuming, way of doing it. There are also 2 recent changes that slow things down at TDC, but not as much as the groin pat-down does. We aren't allowed to accept paper IDs as a primary ID anymore. These don't happen very much, maybe 2-3 a day per checkpoint at IND, but the person that has one always wants to argue with us which slows down the process for that individual passenger. Also, if a passenger has a BP printed from home that won't scan, we have to send that passenger back to the ticker counter or kiosk to get one printed at the airport. This actually happens quite a bit. The other day, I sent 8 people back to the counter in about a 10 minute period, but for each person, I would attempt to scan it a few times on my scanner and then even try the other scanners that were around so they wouldn't have to go back. A process that takes about 15 seconds turns into a task that takes a minute or more if the BP isn't scanning. |
Originally Posted by mdlee3
(Post 26658959)
They generally are. The National Deployment Team members that are assigned to the Presidential campaigns make up a decent percentage of the Team, but a very small percentage of TSA.
I personally don't see an airport like ATL getting assigned members of the team because ATL has a large pool of potential applicants. Even IND won't get any members of the team assigned to us unless we have a large event, such as hosting the Super Bowl again. The team generally spends a lot of time in Alaska and North Dakota and then will do the Super Bowl, Inauguration, ski season in Colorado, and then hit spring break destinations. |
If you present a home-printed paper boarding pass at the gate and it won't scan, does the gate agent send you back to the ticket counter to get a fresh BP or do they figure it out on the computer in 5 seconds and then let you on? :rolleyes:
The TSA has proved to us that they are completely incompetent and deserving of being disbanded. |
Originally Posted by Kevin AA
(Post 26659259)
If you present a home-printed paper boarding pass at the gate and it won't scan, does the gate agent send you back to the ticket counter to get a fresh BP or do they figure it out on the computer in 5 seconds and then let you on? :rolleyes:
The TSA has proved to us that they are completely incompetent and deserving of being disbanded. |
"New groin pat-down" Excuse me, don't you mean the "new crotch grab"? But it now explains why there are so many complaints about AIT alarming on crotch area.
Could this be where many of the items that weren't caught during last year's testing were hidden? Probably safe to assume that every woman wearing a sanitary pad or anyone wearing any incontinence product is going to be groped now. |
Originally Posted by Boggie Dog
(Post 26658973)
You clearly said dispose or mail.
New groin pat down. More hands on genital manipulation? And what does a belt have to do with the groin? Why can a laptop be screened in its bag in the Pre Check line but not in the regular lines? Is the Pre laptop screening inadequate? So TSA Screenings are in fact taking longer. We all knew that, the evidence is easily seen at TSA Checkpoints along with the poor productivity of many TSA employees. Sounds like a TSA problem. All I can say about the belt that alarms the AIT resulting in a groin pat-down is that is that it's a change in the SOP, which I won't be discussing. As far as laptops in the bag, there is a slight difference in the software on pre lanes compared to standard lanes. The hardware is the same, but the software is slightly different. A laptop in a bag on a standard lane will get flagged 99% of the time. A laptop in a bag on a pre lane won't because of the software. As I've said, I've witnessed the unproductive TSA employees at other airports when I've travelled. At IND, during peak times, nobody is just standing around. I'm not counting BDOs in that statement because they actually aren't certified to do anything other than TDC or divesting people on the checkpoint. If you're travelling and there's a TSA problem that slows down your screening, doesn't that also make it your problem? For instance, the other day, we were short-handed because we had people on leave, but then then 2 others called in. So we had 1 bag checker covering lanes 5 and 6. There were several bag checks on one of the 2 lanes and then a couple checks got called on the other lane. The bag checker was doing what she could at the time, but she couldn't keep up. The STSO on duty at the time had gone back to the private screening room with a passenger and another officer so the people that were waiting on their bags to be checked just had to wait until somebody got freed up to be able to search their bag. You can claim that's a TSA problem all day long and it really is, but it's also your problem as a traveler. |
Originally Posted by Kevin AA
(Post 26659259)
If you present a home-printed paper boarding pass at the gate and it won't scan, does the gate agent send you back to the ticket counter to get a fresh BP or do they figure it out on the computer in 5 seconds and then let you on? :rolleyes:
The TSA has proved to us that they are completely incompetent and deserving of being disbanded. |
Originally Posted by mdlee3
(Post 26659892)
The STSO on duty at the time had gone back to the private screening room with a passenger and another officer so the people that were waiting on their bags to be checked just had to wait until somebody got freed up to be able to search their bag. You can claim that's a TSA problem all day long and it really is, but it's also your problem as a traveler. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/check...l#post26415948 |
Originally Posted by mdlee3
(Post 26659892)
I did clearly say dispose of or mail. What is your point? I also forgot to put one other option in my reply. The person can also go out and check the bag. Once again, that's an option that the vast majority of the people don't utilize when something such as a knife is found in their bag.
All I can say about the belt that alarms the AIT resulting in a groin pat-down is that is that it's a change in the SOP, which I won't be discussing. As far as laptops in the bag, there is a slight difference in the software on pre lanes compared to standard lanes. The hardware is the same, but the software is slightly different. A laptop in a bag on a standard lane will get flagged 99% of the time. A laptop in a bag on a pre lane won't because of the software. As I've said, I've witnessed the unproductive TSA employees at other airports when I've travelled. At IND, during peak times, nobody is just standing around. I'm not counting BDOs in that statement because they actually aren't certified to do anything other than TDC or divesting people on the checkpoint. If you're travelling and there's a TSA problem that slows down your screening, doesn't that also make it your problem? For instance, the other day, we were short-handed because we had people on leave, but then then 2 others called in. So we had 1 bag checker covering lanes 5 and 6. There were several bag checks on one of the 2 lanes and then a couple checks got called on the other lane. The bag checker was doing what she could at the time, but she couldn't keep up. The STSO on duty at the time had gone back to the private screening room with a passenger and another officer so the people that were waiting on their bags to be checked just had to wait until somebody got freed up to be able to search their bag. You can claim that's a TSA problem all day long and it really is, but it's also your problem as a traveler. I still see no correlation between belts and groins. <redacted by moderator> Travelers pay a fee for TSA screening. When that service isn't performed well or timely then yes it's our problem. But the reality is that the public can do little to change TSA behavior. TSA employees molest us, steal from us, and verbally assault us while TSA HQ is paying out $90,000 bonuses to the people responsible for this mess. A transition to contract screeners is the best path forward for the public in my opinion. |
Originally Posted by FliesWay2Much
(Post 26658361)
Did anybody see this fertilizer tonight?
Blogdad Bob has been "reading" that the reason for the long lines is because the TSA wants us to sign up for ExtortionCheck so they can profit from it. He completely deflects the criticism. What a crock... I say we let him have it with both barrels, if he has the guts to publish any comments. |
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