It seems to me that the screening manager inherently has the discretion that the supervisor does not have -- and exercised it. What's the problem?

If I showed up at a checkpoint carrying the Hope Diamond (or some similarly valuable object) and requested a hand check, I would hope (pun intended!) that somebody would have the discretion to do exactly that! Some things are just too valuable to run through the x-ray machine -- or to put into checked baggage.

Bruce

A fool with a rule is a tool. That's the fundamental truth of a bureaucracies.

Sheesh, something came out in the passenger's favor and it's the collective TSA jocks that are in a knot in this string.

Is there really any other aspect of this that hasn't been covered?

The thing we still haven't cleared up is the difference between generic videotape and 'motion picture tapes'. Magnetic videotape is used for the capture of motion pictures. Where is the distinction here?

Wouldn't denying access to the sterile area be tantamount to prohibiting a passenger to fly, since the passengers need to pass through the sterile areas to reach the plane?

Mike

It's the same veiled language that they use at shoe carnivals. They can't legally say (or so the TSAers here say) that you must remove your shoes. However, most shoe carnivals use the "We highly recommend that you remove your shoes" line and automatically send you to secondary if you don't. So they can't say it's required because they're not allowed, so they sidestep it with a "suggestion" that means exactly the same thing.

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Ah, that makes much more sense.

Mike

Hey man, I tried to end it by invoking Godwin's Law, but Bart, being the hardheaded fellow he is, totally missed the point.

And, of course, is still able to explain why he follows the rule, other than the fact that the rule exists.

Thank you. I mistakenly thought you were since you had quoted dgilman's "prove it" post.

I agree and can understand this. It drives us crazy too when a passenger tells us how other places do things wrong; it shouldn't be that difficult.

Oh most definately Bart. What got me was the fact that whoever the supe talked to on the phone apparently called him a moron, when the moron was the person on the phone! If the supe was unclear about the policy he should have, 1. consulted the SOP (the policy about tapes, VCRs, and camcorders is very clear) and 2. scheduled some training time for himself for some intensive SOP study.

Nobody wants to answer my questions:

1. Doesn't the screening manager have the explicit authority to overrule the supervisor?

2. What if someone came through with the Hope Diamond or some similarly valuable item and asked for a hand-screening?

What's the big deal?

Bruce

1. No one has authority to overrule explicitly stated policy. The path to that would be changing the policy itself.

2. Anyone in such circumstance would likely prefer to arrange private jet transportation, where security regulations are relaxed.

So I say to you, what's the big deal?

When the Shoe Carnival came into play, I pointed out to the fine folks here in DEN how other airports don't do it.

DEN TSA boilerplate reply: "They're doing it wrong."

That became the standard reply at other airports too.

DEN is such a trendsetter.