urlbuster, when people asked me (and, to be honest, people still do ask me even tho I am laid off) what I THINK of the new security measures, the TSA, etc etc, I give them an honest answer. In our training, we were told to be as HONEST AS POSSIBLE with the passangers. Several of us asked how honest, and the only thing we were not allowed to say is that someone died in-flight.. (If someone DID "pass on" in flight on one of ours, NO ONE was allowed to declare it until we landed and they could be declared dead on the bridge. Odd, but..)

You wrote: Yes, my job was to serve the pax, and NEVER ONCE did I just "stand on a soapbox" (or any other kind, for that matter) and "preach my personal views on travel security. Simple fact is, a lot of our flights WERE NOT VERY FULL. We were encouraged to TALK TO OUR PASSANGERS, and I did so. I woudl never bring up the security issue, but if a passanger asked, I gave them an honest answer. Not everone asked, but some did. And to be quite honest, if a crew member ever approaches you and tries to chat, you can tell them no. It's YOUR CHOICE. You may not pay to hear my or other crews opinions, that's fine by me. But some people actually LIKE discussing this kind of thing with crew. Helps them understand things one way or another. If someone disagrees, fine. They are entitled to disagree. Who knows.. I may be right, I may not. In the end, it's OUR OPINIONS. We all are entitled to them..

You also wrote:
I actually have a great deal more respect for you, because you DON'T tow the Frequent Flier line like a lot of people. And you are right. Your opinion IS just as valid as anyone elses.

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tsadude:
Then I salute you for that. I wish more people would. I ask you this. If a pax or crew were to see a TSA person standing around, and question it, what is the likely response to it? Lord knows I saw plenty of TSA standing around at DTW (Berry terminal) when I was always tehre. Some of whom could have opened the 2nd detector, instead of just standing there..

Chris

You'd likely be politely told to mind your own business, or perhaps rudely. In between pushes there really isn't anything to do besides stand around. Usually we get a ten-twenty minute push every hour or so and then they trickle in the rest of the time. At my checkpoint we have two lanes. We try to keep five or six people on during lulls and then during pushes when we have eight or more screeners available we can open the second lane. And we can't open the second lane until a supervisor tells us to.

CATSA Screener, You wrote:
I understand that in a lot of airports, especially ones that are not hubs, there are lulls/slow times/whatever, and then the rushes.. And I can understand why there may not be much to do when there are no pax coming through. But, during a rush, they were to be just standing around (I.E. they call for Female whatever, and the female screener person decides to take 5 minutes and finish her coffee before coming over. Yes, I saw it happen) what recourse do pax have to make sure they get "helped" in a timely manner? In some cases, 5 minutes can make or break your flight.

Chris

Well, I doubt you can motivate them on the spot so you'd probably just have to deal with it, but in that situation I'd be sure to speak to a supervisor. If you really were late then that would be out of the question and you'd just be screwed. I've never had that problem on my point. When I call for a female screener one arrives as soon as available. And if they did dawdle I'd give them a piece of my mind later away from the passengers. Nobody should be drinking coffee on the point.

IMO, the TSA and their stupid rules, which are always a knee jerk reaction AFTER the fact, are partially responsible for the airlines' financial problems. How many people now drive 6 hours rather than put up with the *security* hassles?

Flowerchild, that's a point I never thought of. I can tell you that if I can possibly do it, I'd rather fly, even if I can get there more "quickly" by car. I love flying. There are people who don't care one way or another, but a lot of people, IMO, that drive now do so because they don't want to deal with the lines/delays/etc and maybe missing an important event or meeting or something.. Can anyone here shed light?

Chris

As stated elsewhere, I now drive to EWR rather than deal with the TSA Morons in BOS.

There have been many other like statements from other members.

The canned response from our "Hard Working, Dedicated Public Servants" is THANK YOU for not flying.

Typical Arrogant Government hacks.

Only time I see them saying "thank you for not flying" is when one of you says something abusive and then blusters about not flying or something ever again.

[This message has been edited by CATSA Screener (edited 06-18-2003).]

The airlines have had worse financial troubles before.The TSA is way done the list.Maybe some right sizing at the top airline executive offices would help.

By that reasoning the TSA is also responsible for Jet blue reporting a 63% increase in revenues the first quarter of this year. No, you cannot blame the TSA for the airlines poor performance. Their poor management is more to blame. They were in trouble way before the TSA came along. Of course we won't let the truth get in the way of a good story now will we?

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"Be the inferior of no man, nor be the superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself. No man's guilt is not yours, nor is any man's innocence a thing apart." William Saroyan, American Playwright

Just to add a little more fuel to the fire..
I'm of the opinion that the TSA, though well intentioned has no vision or creativity in their approach towards security. All they are doing is closing barn doors after the horses leave the stable. Of course, that does prevent horses from leaving through that door again but it does nothing to prevent the horses from recruiting a rat to gnaw a hole through the wall.
The screening being done is based on past actions of terrorists, knives, guns and explosives and certainly will keep them from doing that again.
However, Al Quaeda and the terrorist network is a lot more sophisticated and creative than the TSA seems to want to give them credit for. They won't try the same way as before, they'll try something new and creative. My bet is that if most of us took the time we could think of 100 ways to get past or around the TSA with something destructive.
That is where I fault the TSA, they are focusing on the past while ignoring the possibilities of the future. All they are accomplishing now is; 1.) Making many flyers annoyed and driving business away from the airlines. 2.) Keeping honest people honest. 3.) Forcing the terrorists to take it to the next level.
I have no problem with the majority of TSA screeners. Most are dedicated and want to make a difference. It is their leadership who are failing us. Until they begin acting one step ahead of the terrorists rather than one behind, they add no real value to what we had before and are wasting my tax dollars.

I think a lot will. I'll drive up to 12 hours or more to avoid it. I know I'm not alone. We took a cruise last year and over 50% of the pax drove to the port, (Charleston) some from as far as Michigan and Texas. In discussions with people during the cruise, most drove to avoid flying because of the hassle factor.
Some did it to save money.