Top 10 list of TSA complaints
 

What are your top 10 complaints about TSA ?

Would like to compile a list, and send it to the TSA idea factory, and see if we can implement some changes that would make a bit of sense.

My #1 complaint is "barking @ the pax". I harp on it over & over with my TSO's.

Feel free to vent :)

Kip Hawley is an IDIOT.

#2 Shoe carnival
#3 Liquid ban
#4 TSA employee impertinence
#5 Ridiculously long lines
#6 Laptop removal
#7 TSA employee personal hygiene
#8 Screening exclusion for security-side airport employees
#9 Inconsistent rule application
#10 TSA Employee laziness (refusing to push items through the x-ray machine)

Inconsistencies from terminal to terminal. Every manager has their own little kingdom and insist on the employees doing it "their" way. When you go to a different terminal it's another way of doing the same procedure. The managers and administration needs to get on the same page.

Although its not strictly TSA can i add having to be secondary screened in a foreign country, before we can board the plane, even though weve already been through that countries perfectly adequate screening.

#1 Barking. It's completely un-called-for

#2 The liquid ban. It makes no scientific or conceptual sense, makes screeners' jobs far more difficult, thereby making it less safe to fly.

#3 Shoes. Nobody has ever been hurt or injured by a shoe-related weapon in an airport or airplane. It wastes time and it prolongs the screening process. It's a stupid rule, time to axe it.

#4 SSSS. We all know it's bogus. Just stop it, for crying out loud.


Item #1 will be tough to fix--too many "soldier of fortune" types thinking they're the "front line in the war on terror." Items #2, #3, and #4 are easily correctable, but Kip would never swallow his pride to make these changes.

The barking, the liquid ban, and the shoe carnival catalyze the TSA's loss of legitimacy as an authority. From an organizational behavior standpoint, we're dealing with meaningless, poorly-enforced rules. It's a recipe for disaster.

I sometimes think that TSA employees should have to take a mandatory trip to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. They can see how polite, friendly, organized, and quick it is to clear security in perhaps the strictest airport in the world... I'm not talking about the profiling stuff; just their attitude.

The liquid ban. Nothing else even comes close. Bark and scream and throw temper tantrums all day long, just let me carry back my souvenir bottle of wine. I can't believe what we've given up and for what? No proven benefit at all. At least with the shoes, there really was a shoe bomber who could have seriously harmed himself or the other passengers. No one has proven that the so-called liquid bombers could have even lit a match.

#1. TSA (it must go)

In addition to all of the points above, there should be transparency with the grievance process. In particular, some kind of civilian/congressional oversight on the complaints and a process to actually talk to the powers that be to take corrective action.
Also, lack of cargo screening.
"Bravos" and Terminal Dumps.

Totally Agree here.

Definitely the superiority complex (this goes hand in hand with the barking!) that some screeners have. The issues some of these people must have to get something out of acting tough in this setting must be pretty pathetic.

Unless you get the rare nice/decent people working, I'm constantly wanting to say "who do you think you are? don't talk to me like that", but we all know where that would land me. :/

I agree with all that's been said so far.

I'd also like to see you give them this:

Revised TSA Terrorism Poster

to show them what people think of them.

Besides the barking which has been a gripe of mine since the beginning, it is certainly the liquid ban! Besides being so inconvenient and ineffective, it takes the screeners' attention away from the real threats! Case in point....in ALB they found so many bottles of water...but missed nearly every legitimate weapon!

I think shoes will not removal while they put onto the x-ray machines. Absolutely, it was no reason that I have nothing wrong with my shoes. I am never had anything problems. I have to rights being allowable to leave my shoes on. It just only for me but, it is no one everyone else. It has been no evidence the shoes at all. It should be goes away shoes rules effective immediately. All you guys can leave the shoes on when you getting through the metal detector then, you need to keep mouth shut with TSA screeners. Just please step forward letting passengers leave the shoes on to get through checkpoint.

When I see TSA while they are searching large liquid and they took the passengers' bags when TSA is searching the large liquid. Then, they thrown it away into the garabage. Absolutely, it was nothing wrong the large 3.4oz. They need to do followed the guidelines as liquid restrictions.

This is my #2 complaint. We have 3 different cp's @ RDU. If I am sent to A or C, I have to ask what we are & aren't doing. Even the morning shift does things differently. It's freakin' ridiculous :mad:

#2 & #3 will stay the way they are until we go back to yellow.
#4 I totally agree
Can't do a whole lot about #5
I understand why we do #6. With all the other stuff in PC bags, they can
become extremely cluttered
#7 Totally agree. Geez dude...take a shower & brush your teeth.
#8 We are now screening security side employees. And BTW.....they hate it.
#9 is my #2 complaint
#10 We do have some very lazy people, and they pretty much know they can stay that way without reprisal. However, don't you think you'd be better off making sure your belongings get thru ? I've seen alot of money left out in plain sight, sitting there while the pax is on the other side.

Let's keep this going. Have seen some good ones.

Try LAX with 8 terminals, numerous checkpoints and nobody does it the same. Even shift to shift some things differ. :confused:

ab53

The inconsistency is incredible. The BS line that this is to, "Keep the bad guys on their toes" is an absurd affront to our intelligence.

The barking is extremely annoying, too. It is also completely ineffective. Shout at someone and that person will tune you out. Have a look at what the UK does in this regard. Sure, I have my problems with some of their other policies. But, in the UK security people often roam the line asking each passenger individually about the same things the barkers in the US shout about. This proves to be much more effective.

Go back to yellow?? Hahahahahahahahahaha.. Hahahahaha... Ow, my aching sides. Go back to yellow.

1. TSA has too much authority. In no way should they be able to decide who can and cannot move about. Reassign these workfare recipients and use them as a valet service or parking attendants. I'd find them much more useful in either capacity.

By barking do you mean shouting out commands? Yes, I have realized the futility of doing this and personally stopped this as a practice some time ago.

Yeah,

those guys yelling at the line in general. Incredibly annoying - and not very effective.

Personally I also hate the inconsistency the most, closely followed by the fact that you feel absolutley powerless (even though if you probably aren't) - if you want to catch your plane, better be prepared to do exactly what these guys tell you.
Immigration used to be the toughest part of travelling to the US (read: most uncomfortable part which can go bad), nowadays it is security when boarding a plane in the US.

The attitude that TSA is right no matter what the pax says. There seems to be no desire to resolve disputes.

In SYR they focus so much on not having the shoes in the bin that they don't care about anything else. Keeping shoes on would eliminate that hassle.

And they thought my USB flash drive was a knife.

TSA Aggravation
 

My main beefs:

1) Whenever a shift arrives or departs, it's mayhem in the airport. I've never seen a bunch of adults act like kids on the last day of school. All over the place, running in traffic.

2)Sloppy dress on and off shift. How these "officers" received the title I don't know. Any LEA would be embarrassed to have them.

3)They keep on asking me to take my cable lock off of my service pistol/rifle to "swab it for explosives". There's no reason for that cable lock to come off, dipwad.

I'm sorry but that's so sad that it's got me laughing so hard I've got tears in my eyes:

1. The intelligence of some of those who believe they are the front line of the "wah on terrah" is mind boggling.

2. And good grief, take the cable lock OFF!!!! Do they have any idea why the lock is on the weapon in the first place?

#1. Shoe removal
#2. Laptop removal
#3. Liquids
#4. Rude agents (East coast in particular)
#5. Barking
#6. Security checks on small children
#7. Agents who riffle through your luggage and then tell you to repack it
#8. No bins
#9. Enormous lines at busy times
#10. It's all smoke and mirrors, anyway

Yeah, so when the ramp crew steals it, they can't use it.

1) ACCOUNTABILITY, on ALL levels. If a screener fails to find the components planted by a red team, fire that person on the spot. Why should letting bomb components breezing by be allowed?

Accountability on retaliatory secondaries. End the blanket policy of supervisors covering the ... of a screener (this is why I say to TSAers to watch out what they wish for when complaining about management).

Allow passengers to get the name and badge number of rogue screeners. Many times, TSAers know when a passenger is going to complain about them. I've never seen a TSAer go into an epileptic seizure and end up in an awkward body position like when they know I'm getting their name and badge number off their nameplate. And when you go to a supervisor, they will not let you or let themselves get the requested information, saying it will interfere with the "security" procedures. End that nonsense.

Further about complaints....plant some. Give them to a supervisor to see if they are sent through to the appropriate channels. If not, discipline the supervisor.


2) TECHNOLOGY. I have never been there, but I have heard about scanners at NRT being in use to tell what kind of liquid is in a container. Why can't we use it here? Why can't we use ANY non-intrusive technology such as puffers? It's been proven that x-rays cannot detect explosives.


3) SSSS. Get rid of it. We are so naive in thinking that we're going to nab OBL himself with this ridiculous procedure.


4) LIQUIDS. Why are the same kinds of liquids that we buy at a grocery store (likely from the same distributor) not allowed, while the ones we can buy for an exorbitant price at Hudson News are allowed? Those items are screened the same way when going into the "sterile" area, right? Right?


5) PHYSICAL WELL-BEING OF TSA STAFF. There's a reason why the TSA is the government agency with the largest amount of OTJ injury claims. One reason is their "slinging" of checked bags. Get proper lifting technique back into a regimen.

Furthermore, adopt a physical fitness standard. If the airlines can implement a weight standard, so can the government. Hell, the government has stripped most of passengers rights as it is, it should be able to include that into the list of things aspiring TSAers should sign away as well.

For starters, if a TSAer can't walk sideways through a magnetometer without setting it off, feed them a salad or two.


6) UNIFORM APPLICATION OF THE RULES. One example: my sub-quart baggie that didn't blow up the plane on the way to DFW shouldn't be questioned leaving DFW.


7) 100% EMPLOYEE SCREENING. FSDs, CSRs...whoever. Including TSAers who go out to cart out more plastic bins on the other side of the x-ray (like at DEN). This is NOT a tit-for-tat move. Doing so would benefit two ways....having TSAers go experience exactly what passengers go through all the time. And it would provide a TRUE sterile area.

This includes catering trucks and anybody on the tarmac. Anybody.


8) WASH THE FLOOR. Even the movie theaters wash their floors once in awhile. If we're going to go through THIS theater, as in "Kabuki," with bare or socked feet, at least we can stop giving germs to each other.


9) STOP ASKING ME WHAT AN ITEM IS. If you can't identify the item on my keychain, such as a pre-paid parking key, then ETD it or don't ask me. If we are on the honor system, then why did I need to dump all my items in the x-ray in the first place?


10) DESIGNED INCONSISTENCY. Hawley has said it, and the BOS FSD used it to skirt out of a damning situation involving a TSAer. Stop insulting our intelligence. Even a TSAer has said in this forum there is no such thing.

There is such a thing as a TSA idea factory? That is really scary.

Can we assume that, like all the rest of the factories in the U.S., it has been outsourced to Red China?

Good one :D

Geez, what unwarranted hostility. It's scary to think folks with your disposition are out there enforcing laws in this country. If you want to play the role of tough guy please join Blackwater and go play goon in another country, pal.

doober's disposition?

Consistency in what goes in the bin and what doesn't.

Seems like every screener has his/her own eccentricities about what can go in the bin and what can't.

I hate getting yelled at to put my item in the bin, or take it out of the bin, at the screener's whim. Worse is when the screener starts rearranging my stuff his/herself. That's when I grab hold of the bin and tell them to stop.

I often travel with a small tote bag. It doesn't close at the top very well. I want to put it in the bin so nothing falls out. What difference does it make it if goes in with my shoes and my cell phone? I'm still using one bin and only one bin.

And I agree completely with the complaints about the barking. I particularly dislike it when the screener begins the harangue with "I". "I need everyone to take their shoes off. I need all liquids in a baggie" or whatever.

How about beginning the REQUEST with the word "please" as in, "please take your jacket off and put it in the bin" and use your inside voice!

^ Excellent!!! :D

New liquids rule must be the lamest. I can take as many containers as I want, as long as they are all under oz requirement? Seriously? Like someone couldn't take 10 bottles and mix them back together in the bathroom.

I really want to meet the guy that comes up with these iron clad security measures.

#1 - Liquids ban. Seriously, my full size moisturizer is no threat to anyone

#2 - Shoes off. Walking without shoes on the floor is just disgusting. Putting my purse on the conveyor that just had someone's shoes on it is also disgusting.

#3 - Lack of common sense of TSA personnel. I've seen TSAers push bins off the end of the conveyor...that had laptops in them. I've seen them seriously question whether a baggie was "legal" sized when it's clearly close enough (either a European size or a sandwich sized baggie that only needed to hold one item).

#4 - Inconsistent application. I think enough has been said on this, but it's really infuriating to have to go through and wonder what the rules are at each airport.

#5 - Lack of sensitivity to theft. At SJC last week, I was forced to push my items through the conveyor, even though there was a line of 8 people waiting to get through the WTMD. I objected, noting the big line, but was yelled at to "stop holding things up, your bags will be waiting." Sorry, but my bags could have been long gone by the time I made it through. HUGE peeve of mine, and it goes along with not being able to lock your checked luggage.

(phew, I'm exhausted now -- last 5 quickly)

#6 - no bins
#7 - same as sonora -- why do you care what i put in a bin?
#8 - barking/yelling -- it clearly isn't getting the message across, so please stop
#9 - liquids ban -- yes, i know i said it before, it just really irks me
#10 - lack of cargo screening -- why do we go through all of this when you're just going to stick unscreened cargo on the plane with us?

A lot of the things mentioned here are just minor annoyances and are mostly problems only in the sense that they distract from the larger issues. Here's what I see as important:

Consistency: screen everyone and everything. Hardly needs explaining except to the people who think they should be excused.

Consistency: adjust the equipment the same everywhere. If I don't set off the alarm in TLH, then when I go through LAX dressed the same and carrying the same, I shouldn't set off the alarm there either. I shouldn't have to worry whether the rivets in my jeans will be OK one place and not another. (Hey, at least I no longer have to worry about the lace holes and sole shanks in my hiking boots.)

Consistency: of procedures. Mentioned plenty already.

Long lines: at least TSA could schedule shifts better. I have stood in a very long line at LAX terminal 2 at 5:40 AM because only two of the six lines were open. At 6:00 the morning shift came on and the lines cleared. Obviously TSA needs to schedule some workers to start at 5:30 in that terminal.

Patience and politeness: lots said already, but I'd add that I think I've seen more problems with passengers then with TSA. Hey, I walk up with my baggage and before they can ask, I say "unlocked, no film, no firearms", and almost always get a smile in response. Smiles from passengers do a lot to change the attitudes of TSA employees in my experience. There's still no excuse for rude TSA workers, but there's no excuse for rude passengers either.

Policy: this goes above TSA. Our entire approach to security is based on walls. From the Great Wall to the Berlin Wall, history tells us that walls last for a while and then fall. So will the airport screening wall. In the long run our security is enhanced more by bridges than by walls.

Edward

I'll have to think a bit more about a top-ten list, but I'd add the "Mythbusters" video site that doesn't include any videos of when the TSA does wrong...

;) ;) & :D