Posted on 05/22/2016 11:34:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
This summer, air travel is for people who expect to go to hell and want to know what it will be like. Security lines have reached epic lengths in many airports. Thousands of travelers have missed flights. And the Transportation Security Administration now advises passengers to arrive two hours before departure for domestic flights -- and three in some places.
The agency in charge of aviation security has become a major problem. That's odd, because it was supposed to be a solution. Nearly 15 years after it was created, it's a case study of how firm, well-intentioned government intervention can produce an exploding cigar.
The agency came into being because of the 9/11 attacks, carried out by terrorists who commandeered airliners. A large share of the blame was heaped on airport security firms that didn't intercept the hijackers.
This lapse was not merely the failure of the workers manning the X-ray machines at the nation's airports. It was, we were told, a failure of the private sector, which was responsible for screening -- and the only reliable way to prevent future attacks was to turn security over to the federal government.
A few weeks after the attacks, House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt took the House floor to lament the existing system. "The companies that have been doing this have failed the American people," he declared. "We must put security in the hands of law enforcement officers."
His was a common sentiment. Private contractors, we were told, paid their screeners too little, hired employees without adequate background checks and sometimes missed weapons being taken through checkpoints. When Republicans argued for keeping these operators but monitoring them better, Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., scorned the idea: "We've had private contractors with government supervision in the past, and we ended up with 5,000 dead."
It wasn't exactly fair to blame the screeners for 9/11. The knives and box cutters reportedly used by the hijackers were not prohibited at the time. The 9/11 Commission faulted the Federal Aviation Administration because its policies "were aimed at keeping bombs out of baggage, not at keeping planes from being turned into guided missiles." Flight crews were trained not to resist hijackers -- which made it easy for the terrorists to take over the planes.
In spite of all that, Congress insisted on establishing the TSA, which today has some 55,000 employees, an annual budget of $7.44 billion and an aversion to self-criticism.
Explaining the recent mammoth delays, it said, "Individuals who come to the TSA checkpoint unprepared for a trip can have a negative impact on the time it takes to complete the screening process." Administrator Peter Neffenger said he was sorry about the people stranded in Chicago last weekend but added, "I won't apologize for doing our job well."
No need, since that accusation has not been heard. The delays would be easier to bear if screeners were relentlessly proving their value. But last year, in an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general, undercover agents got banned items past screeners in 95 percent of their attempts.
"After spending over $540 million on baggage screening equipment and millions more on training, the failure rate today is higher than it was in 2007," complained Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "Something is not working."
Actually, more than one thing is not working. The agency's culture also undermines safety. "Dozens of Transportation Security Administration employees in recent years have been reassigned, demoted, investigated or fired for reporting lapses or misconduct by senior managers, charges that were later upheld by whistle-blower protection agencies," The New York Times reported last month.
One remedy the agency offers for the recent long lines is for the airlines to stop charging for checked bags, which would mean fewer carry-ons to be inspected. Nice of the TSA to suggest that someone forgo revenue for the greater good, but it hasn't proposed to do the same -- say, by waiving the $85 PreCheck fee to induce more people to sign up for expedited screening.
Even that option might not help, because the agency is already having trouble keeping up with applications. If you want an appointment at one of the Chicago-area sites, expect to wait until July.
One advantage of using private companies to do airport screening is that if they make a botch of it, you can fire them. What would it take for the TSA to get fired?
Just to add salt to the wound......they have something like a 91% failure rate at explosives detection.
I really wish FR had a like button..:)
That’s not even good enough to call it luck. More like they are trying to get itwrong.
If you are not a writer you should be.
Very funny !
.
Your life must be hell.
You nailed it. Union slowdown.
These security lines have moved fairly steadily for years now. Why is it that all of a sudden, in one weekend, we have three hour waits? The passenger load is not increasing.
Hey, that was back in the day. It was a job, and someone had to do it. That was me..:)
The TSA is hit or miss, I fly frequently out of Columbia, SC and the TSA there is fairly decent. I flew out of Tampa last week, there they were decent (not great, but decent) as well,
In Frankfurt, Germany I had to leave security to change planes, When I went through security at the new terminal, they said my bag tested for explosive residue, they very politely and professionally emptied it, then apologized and sent me to my gate... With a submachine gun armed Polizei watching the entire process.
However, I am returning through Chicago and even with over three hours to clear immigration, customs, change terminals and go through the TSA, I fully expect to miss my connecting flight home.
It was wrapped as a birthday present. It showed as a block on the x-ray, and at Copenhagen and Amsterdam they professionally took it, opened the wrapping, inspected it, refolded the paper, re-taped it, and I was on my way.
I got to Atlanta and the "TSA" worker, who was about 18 and had his pants sagging, took it out, ripped off the wrapping, then walked around showing his co-workers what I had. I blew my freakin top.
Next thing I knew, I had 5 armed cops in the immediate area. All the TSA "workers" were laughing at my outrage. The supervisor told them to shut up. I got the item back, minus the wrapping. I was never so hot in my life, unless you count those other times. Airports, and the TSA can KMA.
Somehow liberals fail to see cyclical effects of their own idiocy.
Michelle Malkin nailed it via the Charlotte Observer - see link in previous post.
re: What would it take for the TSA to get fired?
Just off the top of my head, I can think of nothing that would get the TSA fired. Hell, the Federals cannot even fire criminals. Besides, what federal agency has ever been fired (closed down)? Off hand, the only one I can think of maybe is the Rationing Boards of WWll. But I suspect they were rolled up into another agency along with their How To books.
One year exactly after 9/11 we were in LAX for a flight to Mexco. Both blonde haired blue eyed, 45 and 51 years old. While the gal was making us take our shoes off and scanning us, dark haired Mexican men and others were just walking on by. I told the gal.......do we really look like terrorists to you?
They are ridiculous.
why PAY for that?
going thru the Philly airport is an experience to be sure.....
do you suppose they deliberately make it horrifying and lengthy just so more people would pay for those security passes?.....I just refuse to do it...
Shoes stayed on. No nude-o-scopes.
At the bag scanner everyone had a section of a platform that held two bins. When your bins were loaded you pushed them on the conveyor.
All things that speed the process by dozens of seconds each. Over the course of thousands of people a day it all makes a huge difference.
Flying out of Frankfurt in a few days, looking forward to seeing what they do.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.