In lots of threads, the folks staffing the security checkpoints have sometimes come in for more than a little derision. But let's give equal time to the stupid pax who add to the security staffers' woes. Here's one I saw today:

At SFO, I was in the UA security line ~ 7 p.m. The woman in front of me had only a boarding pass. No purse, no carry-on, no pockets (that I could discern). Only a boarding pass. The agent checking i.d.'s and b.p.'s before the x-ray said "I need to see your i.d." She said "It's with my husband at gate 78 -- we're just connecting here and I just ran out to have a smoke. He has my purse and i.d." The agent looked (and I think I would have too!) a bit baffled and said "But I need to see some identification to prove it's your boarding pass."

Now, I can understand someone making this kind of silly mistake, running outside for a nicotine hit and then having one of those oh-my-God moments at which you are truly embarrassed and chagrined and apologetic.

But this is where I lost all sympathy for her: She began to berate the agent, saying again (more loudly and more slowly this time, as if the agent was addled) I just went out for a cigarette; my husband has my i.d. at gate 78, and we already checked in once. So you need to let me in now."

At that point the agent called a supervisor over and I went on past her to the next machine; the last I heard the agent and supervisor were conferring about how they could page the husband at the gate quickly, and woman was getting more and more irate at the way she was being "treated."

Some people.

[This message has been edited by cblaisd (edited 01-20-2002).]

in some cases, it is simply not possible to save a person from themselves

maybe she will sue them

I have no sympathy for an idiot wandering around an airport without any ID.

.......

While this woman did put herself in this position, I have yet to hear a convincing argument as to why letting someone through security without an ID is less safe than letting someone through with one.

Now that I think about it, I can't remember being asked for ID at security. They just ask for a boarding pass. IDs are only needed to get a boarding pass and to get on the plane.

This be true! ID at ticketing and gate. Boarding pass at security.

From the ual.com FAQ Thus far, ever security checkpoint has asked me for ID in the US. Less so in Asia.

It depends on the airport. Some check both, some check only one. It is UNIVERSAL that ID and BP are checked at check-in and at gate. Since this is the case, you could make the argument that anyone should be allowed through security. Either your systems work or they don't. Before 9-11, someone else could check-in and board since no one checked id at boarding. I believe that due to the long lines caused by increased security post 9-11 is why only people with BP are allowed beyond security.

They should have let her through after performing a cavity search.

It would seem appropriate for the supervisor to give her a warning to calm down or she will be arrested and may end up in jail or fined and definately miss her flight. She should also be asked to apologize.

Then he/she should suggest the passenger go back to the front and have her husband paged. She could then try yelling at him to bring her id, so she could properly clear security.

This solution inconveniences only the id-less passenger and keeps the line moving for the others. This one is easy!!!!1111

you mean no one has suggested the implanted-federal-government-issued-biometric-tell-the-airlines-what-you-ate-for-dinner-identity chip?

This sounds to me like an extraordinarily stupid passenger, who really ought to have known better, and who really should have apologized for her lack of thinking rather than being upset over how she was "treated."

However, I think this story also (again) tells us something about the security procedures and the screeners. I completely fail to see the security aspect of correlating the name on the boarding pass with the name on an ID at the security check point. Checking at check-in and when boarding makes sense, but at the security screening? It's not like they are checking against a wanted list or making sure the ID is not fake, is it? Seems to me that the only thing they really are checking is that they are dealing with ticketed passengers, for the purpose of having to screen fewer people, thus making the screening quicker for everybody. In this case it seems like they wasted everybody's time unnecessarily by enforcing a rule whose purpose is mainly to speed up the screening.

However, again, no sympathy for the stupid woman...

do you really expect them to think? They have a hard time dealing with reality, thinking is beyond their capability.

The entire security screening process in the US airports, what is checked, when and where, is a joke. So many things make no sense, and done just to pretend something is done. I only hope it get better over time, as reflexive, knee-jerk, "oh-my-god-lets-do-something!" gives way to real improvements.

One can always dream, right?

Just passed through security at Terminal 3 (AA) at ORD. I was required to show government-issued ID and boarding pass before going through the magnetometer, and then AFTER going through the magenetometer. I feel much safer now.

PDX initially required the presentation of a photo ID shortly after September 11 but they most definitely eliminated this requirement several months ago. EWR terminal C requires an ID and I'll see what JFK does this coming Wednesday. Its hard to imagine why there should be so much inconsistency.