We have the same situation here at SeaTac. Many of our screeners have qualifications that would put most any of the supervisors and above to shame. I truly feel that NCS Pearson was directed to hire individuals with less qualification in order to facilitate an easier training of the workforce by TSA. It is extremely difficult to retrain qualified and experienced individuals to do this job in the manner that TSA wants it done. The last thing that TSA wanted was supervisors and managers in positions that would allow them to counter or question policy as it was written. This is exactly why 6 of the major airport FSD's quit their positions in the beginning. They realized that we were not heading TSA in the right direction. Remember, we are a public relations force, not a security force. If any manager or above would like to counter this claim, I would welcome a comparison of qualifications between screeners and supervisors and above. It would tell volumns.

It is sad to see that the perceived truth by passengers is the same truth seen by screeners; however, at the same time it is reassuring that people who understand that this is as much if not more for show than substance work for the TSA indicates to me at least there are some smart people working for said agency.

[This message has been edited by GUWonder (edited Feb 23, 2004).]

You are making some pretty big assumptions. Many supervisors that were selected volunteered as MSF to go on the road forever.Others were probably faster at filling out the online questionare. Many that have great qualifications for these positions didn't want them or stated that they wanted to see the operation first. NCS Pearson hired HR people who knew little about security and it shows. Those that are more qualified should not hold their breath for promotions because they will probably die first.