That means 16% of the time this would be random!

I have been lurking in these forums for some time now and the topic of this thread is one that I feel strongly about.

So strongly that it is one of the few times I am struggling to find the right wording for this reply.

I have very strong opinions on the TSA.

AngryDan, I bear no animosity toward you personally, but I do harbor a great deal of anger, frustration and resentment towards your employer. It is an organinzation imho, that serves no useful purpose other than to give us the false feeling that somehow we are safe and TSA is protecting us.

A lot of my anger and resentment is directed toward the screeners and their incredible lack of common sense so many of them seem to display in attempting to do their jobs and interpeting the security rules that are CLEARLY displayed on the TSA website.

Yes, John Q Public can and often is not a nice person and can be very offensive and rude too, but TSA screeners in my many travels seem to top the rude and offensive scale much more often and to a greater degree.

Gate screening is not done in other countries that I have traveled to, including some that have a reputation as having some of the strictest security anywhere worldwide, so why does TSA continue to hassle the flying public like this?

My answer is that TSA does not have very much confidence in their own people and the ability they have to carry out their duties.

As I said earlier, I bear no harsh feelings toward you personally (unless you are one of the rude and incompetent TSA employees I have had to deal with) but your employer is one I would rank near the top of places and things I can honestly say I HATE

Because of your employer and their hassle filled, useless, window dressing security, some road warriors I know (including myself) no longer fly unless we have no choice, if I can drive there in less than a day, I do, and save myself from having to deal with TSA people.

End of ranting^

RoadVeteran
Welcome to FT & a great first post which I agree 100%. I also no longer fly if I can help it. After being at the airport 5 days a week & observing what goes on I do not wish to subject my self to it.

I am getting certified to do the gate screening at my airport now. We plan on going full tilt with it sometime next year meaning there will be TSOs in the sterile area beyond the checkpoint at all times.

You bring up a great point here!! If the TSA is the do-all, be-all, end-all of screening accuracy and efficiency, WHY IS THERE A NEED for gate screenings? Al this means is that thy know their security checkpoints are bulls**t.

Also, being on a cell phone call (or at least having a phone to your ear) is great way to avoid the inane SPOTter's questions. All I usually get is "how are you today" to which I respond "I'm going to work, so it sucks" and that's usually all they need to hear. Once I got "where are you traveling to today" and I poinhtd to the boarding pass and said "Well according to this, P-D-X. Did you know something about my flight that I don't?"

When they turned down my ex-air force, 17 year police veteran father-in-law for a TSO position claiming he "did not meet their requirements" I lost any respect I might have had for the TSA---whcih was none to begin with. He has a good time pointing out to these clowns at least three things they missed that are real, genuine security concerns every time he goes through their checkpoints.

So it actually makes a lot of sense that they feel the need to re-screen people at the gate. Their system is a joke.

--PP

No offense, but I think this is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back. With the new charges for checked bags (from which elites are exempt), all the Gomers and Kettles will be carrying on, placing a premium on bin space. Priority boarding will become a critical perk for frequent fliers. If TSA starts interfering with the boarding order by pulling over elites who then have to gate check bags, there's going to be trouble.

I'm sure you're a nice guy, but your agency has to be THE worst in the government -- all this dog-and-pony garbage for absolutely NO GAIN IN SAFETY OR SECURITY.

Well, I would explain how we currently do gate screening but it might be SSI and I don't want to get fired or something. But I will say it's not as thorough as the checkpoint screening and only takes a matter of seconds. Like has been stated before it is completely random and from what I've seen only a few passengers from each plane.

There's a MAJOR SOP change I haven't seen discussed yet but don't want to mention it myself due to it possibly being SSI until the end of the month. It means both good and bad news for the passengers.

The arbitrary liquid thing?

Meaning that your superiors have zero confidence in the ability of screeners to catch "bad" guys either through an ID check or at the checkpoint.

I can hardly wait for the first Red Team report that shows screeners missed an ID check, a "weapon" at the checkpoint and the same "weapon" at a gate screening.

Kind of sort of. I don't know how good this will turn out though.

Kip and Skeletor going full tilt to try to get more harassment underway before they are out on the street in January.

I still burst out laughing whenever I see them pull out the loop. I always want to ask if there is a "4 C's" of drivers licenses.

I'm not speaking for PhlyingRPh (Okay, I am.), but from what I've seen of his posts, I'd go with the former.

Thanks for the updates. We really do appreciate it.

Mike

Don't post anything about it yet. Another TSO on here did, and I noticed that his post "disappeared", and so did he. Just wait till it goes into effect and then we can do our best to explain the new rules.

At FLL (T1), IAH (C and E) and SEA (B) during the past few days - no evidence of gate screening....not even the presence of tables.

Good god, are you serious? What is going on in this country? It's now a breach of security protocol simply to mention that there will be gateside interrogation . . . uh . . . screening? Does TSO have it's own Gestapo?

"The first rule of TSA is you don't talk about TSA"