The wheel didn't need to be reinvented, but that's exactly what happened after 9/11. The wheel needed to be rebalanced and maybe some slow leaks fixed, but that was about it.

It's going to be expensive either way. We can continue the current expensive farce and get little to nothing. Or we can pony up and fix things right (what should have been done the first time) and enjoy the cost savings after things are fixed right.

As a taxpayer and traveler, I'd rather have option 2 than keep up with the current farce.

Actually, I tend to agree with this. If the feds wanted to beef up security, they could have mandated standards, but allowed private companies to operate within that framework (much as is done today at the airports that use private screeners).

However, we have the luxury of hindsight. At the time, no one knew whether more attacks were forthcoming, and a great many people were afraid to fly as a result. It's likely officials felt that acting decisively was the only way to restore public confidence in the safety of air travel.

At any rate, I fear a revamp now would be a rehash of what happened after 9/11: the same faces would remain; only the uniforms and titles would change. Of course, if wages and bennies were reduced significantly, everyone able to find a better job would be OUTTA THERE, and the dregs of the workforce would be left to carry on! Which would engender a new set of issues ...

Agreed. And we don't see planes falling out of the sky at SFO because of it either. They also tend to do better in red team tests ... probably because keeping the contract gets more accountability out of the vendor.

And that's exactly what's wrong with Washington ... when it acts quickly and decisively, it messes things up and usually badly. Politicians feel the need to do "something" but don't stop to evaluate if that "something" is the right thing. Sure, people were scared to fly after 9/11. Instead of the government admitting it messed up though, it made the screeners the scapegoat and allowed for a takeover.

It's one thing to act quickly when the way forward is clear. Like when the US declared war on Japan after Pearl Harbor. However, with things like TSA, the economic bailout, etc, there wasn't any real clear way forward. And we get things like DHS, TSA, etc, because they wanted to act quickly and decisively. And IMO, neither is good for the country.

I don't know that wages and benefits would have to change much ... the compensation seems fair now. What we do have is a lot of waste happening and too many workers. Part of TSA is make work ... it has to keep everyone busy and blow its budget or it will be cut. If screening were cut to screening actual threats like pre-9/11, we wouldn't need as many screeners as lines would be processed more quickly and efficiently. Money saved could be used for upgrading the tech to screen for prohibited items better.

You're right that there'd have to be some house cleaning ... a lot of bad apples would have to be gotten rid of. There will be some good people that deserve to be kept. There are many that don't. They'd have to be willing to clean house and make room for more good people. They'd have to be VERY careful who was put in charge to ensure that it wasn't screwed up ... again.

Super

That's good!
Seriously, I have encountered a lot of people who seem to think I've been to the Jedi academy or something when I tell them what I do for a living. It's kind of scary. BDO training teaches a pretty neat skill set, but it's just science.

That can be a problem with the job, especially if you're new to it, and especially at large airports. BDO work isn't for everyone, and only you can decide if it would actually be a good move for you.

These are all reasons why I think you'd likely be a good addition to their team. (Well, except for the part about not fitting with the others.) Surly, standoffish, aggressive BDOs are not likely to be effective BDOs.

It seems to depend on who you speak with. I don't doubt that there are employees with these traits, possibly many employees. There is also a lot of internal politicking, jealousy, and bad blood surrounding the BDO programs at some airports.

I'm not sure it's even on their (TSA-HQ) radar.

Quite poorly. I think that virtually any travel or airport security blog adequately demonstrates this impression.

I would be more in favor of top to bottom housecleaning and restructuring. I am afraid that a total rebuild would be likely to, yet again, recreate the same problems with a new window dressing.

I would say that the car didn't need to be scrapped, but the tire and brakes needed to be replaced.

I also vote for option 2. It's incredibly frustrating for all involved to waste time on security measures that don't actually accomplish their legal, stated purpose.

Good advice for any US citizen to remember.

I really do think this is the best solution for TSA. There are some really good people working for TSA, and their experience has significant value. We just need to get rid of the problems.

Dear Secretary Napolitano,

Please appoint spotnik as the next TSA Administrator.

Sincerely,
LoganTSO

I second that!

Cut the red tape in half for dismissal ^