*Random * doesn't mean pull a group of Hispanic passengers
Feb 19, 2002, 6:09 am
#46
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2000
Programs: DL FO, Marriott Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 12,003
Last weekend, my fiancée and myself flew JFL-LAX and back on DL. At DL's JFK terminal the scanners are at the doorway where you enter as it is a "sterile" terminal. We went through that without a problem. We then went to the F-B/E-Medallion check-in line at the ticket counter. At that point, my fiancee's boarding pass was printed with a random security check notation on it. Her possessions were taken to another table where they opened them and they used a swab that was analized in a machine for explosives. When we got to the gate, and her boarding pass was scanned again, it indicated another security check where they went through all of her carry-on possessions and asked her to remove her shoes. If you counted the scanners at the entranceway to the terminal, she was checked 3 times.
On the return from LAX, her boarding pass came up with the same additional security check notation on it. Of course the security company at LAX was "Not-So-Bright", and all they did was search her carry-on items at the gate, use a handheld wand to scan her and asked her to remove her shoes. They never did an additional search of her checked bag (which was the procedure at JFK) which made absolutely no sense.
Both times, when I saw that her boarding pass had the code for search on it, I took a rather large tote bag that she had, and they only searched her purse. If the computer picks only 1 person in a group that is on the same PNR, does that make any sense? It is too easy to hand your carry-on possessions to another person traveling with you.
Was it a fluke that she was picked on both flights? We are both GM's on DL and were on the same PNR. How random are these checks?
[This message has been edited by Rssrsvp (edited 02-19-2002).]
On the return from LAX, her boarding pass came up with the same additional security check notation on it. Of course the security company at LAX was "Not-So-Bright", and all they did was search her carry-on items at the gate, use a handheld wand to scan her and asked her to remove her shoes. They never did an additional search of her checked bag (which was the procedure at JFK) which made absolutely no sense.
Both times, when I saw that her boarding pass had the code for search on it, I took a rather large tote bag that she had, and they only searched her purse. If the computer picks only 1 person in a group that is on the same PNR, does that make any sense? It is too easy to hand your carry-on possessions to another person traveling with you.
Was it a fluke that she was picked on both flights? We are both GM's on DL and were on the same PNR. How random are these checks?
[This message has been edited by Rssrsvp (edited 02-19-2002).]
Feb 24, 2002, 10:57 am
#47
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Gaithersburg MD
Posts: 81
Last week, I flew US Airways DCA-CLT-AGS, for a wedding. The "random searches" that I found at DCA was a joke to say the least. All the people that were picked to be randomly searched were relatively attractive females who were nicely built. The searches appeared to be more of a social atmosphere, than the dedication to protecting the flying public, from the "axis of evil". One can only assume that the screeners were checking to see if the protrudings of these women were the carrying in of an illegal material or not.
In short, the random searches are a joke and an inconvenience to a person. If the screeners are not taking this aspect of airport security seriously, then the FAA needs to just do away with random searches completely.
In short, the random searches are a joke and an inconvenience to a person. If the screeners are not taking this aspect of airport security seriously, then the FAA needs to just do away with random searches completely.
Feb 25, 2002, 1:51 am
#48
Join Date: May 1998
Posts: 6,790
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TunaTacos:
<snip> In short, the random searches are a joke and an inconvenience to a person. If the screeners are not taking this aspect of airport security seriously, then the FAA needs to just do away with random searches completely.</font>
<snip> In short, the random searches are a joke and an inconvenience to a person. If the screeners are not taking this aspect of airport security seriously, then the FAA needs to just do away with random searches completely.</font>
QUOTE OF THE MONTH (Mark Steyn of Spectator Magazine), concerning the new airport security-screening:
"Under our new high-alert procedures, security personnel demonstrate their sensitivity by looking for people who don't look anything like the people they're looking for. Never in the field of human conflict have so many been so inconvenienced to avoid offending so few" (to paraphrase Winston Churchill).
FWIW.