What's your opinion on the TSA?

These people are just doing their jobs. One has to wonder whether all their procedures are reality or lobby driven, but that’s something else.

I think TSA are just fine, grosso modo.

My experience in February was what it has always been – a non-event. Wait in line, remove shoes, put stuff on belt to be scanned, go through the x-ray machine, wait for stuff, put on shoes, go to my gate.

Once, in a small regional airport, I had to have a limited check because my shirt had metal snaps on it. The lady who checked them was very pleasant and a bit apologetic.

A pillar of the crumbling pig state.

I take the train as opposed to fly whenever reasonably possible.

@whitenoise wrote what I think.

My only complaint is the special line for first class passengers, waited on by gov’t employees.

The passengers aren’t paying ME extra to sit in the front, but I have to wait in line longer for their convenience.

They have an impossible mission to do, and by and large they do it pretty well. Yes, there are occasional screwups, and the bureacracy for a department that large is pretty awful, but the fact is that we need such a department.

On the whole, the TSA does a better job than what we had pre-9/11.

I had bought not inexpensive perfume at the duty free as a gift and airline security insisted the packaging be opened and the perfume unsealed rendering the gift almost useless. It was bought at duty free 100 yards from the security checkpoint. I was not happy.

Pervs need jobs too.

Inferior intelligence, general lack of understanding about things in general including what are those specific items that one might need to accompany them on a trip abroad.

Complete and gross lack of understanding as to how customer facing business should work.

TSA? You are NOT a law enforcement agency. You are MOST CERTAINLY NOT a cusomer service outfit.

You’re job is to be recruited by the TSA despite ANY MANNER OR LACK of experience, independent education, and proven sanity.

History provides us with a thousand examples of the incompetent, the coward and the budding fascist displaying a badge and an attitude.

You, the TSA, and your pathetic members might just turn out to be the worst.

I was in a plane on 9/11 before the pat downs and body scans were mandatory. Post 9/11 I think they could and should do more to prevent another 9/11 style disaster.

It’s an embarrassing example of the sort of slapstick remedies hastily thrown up with the patriot act. It only takes a trip to the airport to realize that Ben Laden was successful beyond his wildest dreams

Great in theory, but when staffed by minimum—wage high school dropouts with zero humor or common sense, they cause more problems than they solve, make us LESS secure than we were, and just waste our money.

Either revamp it the TSA, or give us taxpayers a refund.

@stanleybmanly Entirely correct; the existence of the TSA in it’;s current, unintelligent form proves beyond all shadow of a doubt that the terrorists did win.

What terrorists though? I don’t think it had much to do with 9/11. This shit was planned a long time ago. 9/11 was at most a ready excuse.

Really, the TSA’s antics are a logical step from the war on drugs, the arbitrary policing of urban America, and other elements of the prison-industrial complex. The people getting harassed by the TSA cared not an iota when the law ‘n order authoritarians of the 1990s started finding ever more reasons to steer more people to prison, even in the face of falling crime. The buck should have stopped a long time ago.

Another feelgood program meant to make all the wimps in this country feel good and safe.

At some airports they are a pain in my neck. Not only are the TSA agents seemingly unable to think, but the airport itself is set up extremely poorly and not following TSA rules. Other airports the TSA is just fine. They do their job, they can answer a question, and they think about how they can help you.

Sometimes, they are perfectly reasonable and pleasant. Other times, they’re obnoxious and intimidating. The problem is that this inconsistency is tolerated. You can’t know what sort of experience you’re going to have until you’ve had it. The same is true of border crossings. These should not be stressful experiences for peaceful, law-abiding citizens. Yet we all know that we need to be on our very bestest, most passive, most obsequious behaviour. If you get someone in a bad mood, or who just doesn’t like the look of a person, they can do pretty much anything they like to anyone. That’s a problem.

@dappled_leaves Do you find a lot of inconsistencies at the same airport? I find each airport has its own mood regarding TSA.

You will not believe what a bunch of entitled asswipes airline travellers can be.

Keeping that in mind I find them quite decent.

The average passenger will give a nasty look when a bag needs opened. Pretend to have forgotten they packed that toothpaste. That they never realized that ‘such a tiny pair of scissors wasn’t allowed’.

These people get paid close to nothing cause the only people making decent money in government jobs are higher up and nobody ever thanks them or shows them respect.

I hate the checks as anyone, but I am surprised how nasty some of us here talk about the people that are performing them.

@whitenoise I don’t mind if they need to open one of my bags, what I mind is in Memphis for instance if you ask for a pat down in lieu of the machine that sees through your garments they hold you in an area where you cannot see your luggage coming out of the other side of the X-ray belt. This is a TSA violation. When I complain the TSA don’t care. There have been thefts at that airport, including a laptop stolen out of someone’s luggage by TSA. I complained to the airport, supplied them with the information TSA supplied me when I wrote them. They had not changed it last time I was there two years after my complaint. Last time I was there the TSA agent spent too much time trying to talk me out of a pat down, which annoyed me. She wasn’t getting that I simply am not going to go through the X-ray. Neither of these things happen to me at other airports, except one other, I cannot remember which, I could not see my luggage.

In Tampa when I was carrying a cake, an agent helped me to ensure it did not get damaged through security without me asking. She was the one who approached me to help. That would never happen in Memphis. I have flown in and out of Memphis many times, dealt with multiple TSA agents there and it definitely has to do with management I would think, and maybe partly with who they hire and what those people can handle. Memphis even outside of the airport has some service issues.

Detroit can be incredibly strict, and it can be a hassle, but I don’t feel like they don’t understand they are dealing with the public. Laguardia in NYC of all places I have an easier time with TSA than many other airports.

@JLeslie,

I’m sure it isn’t a great experience everywhere, all of the time. Just thinking that if that happens consistently in Memphis, there’s something wrong with the management of that airport.

I travel to a lot of the world and, in all honesty, I think that the US have set up their public services as a third world country in many aspects.

I guess that is your choice. The average us citizen seems to worry more about ‘government spending’ than about ‘government functioning’. :-/

In the past five months, I’ve flown in and out of Memphis and Atlanta, On all four occasions, it took time, but the process went smoothly. Since the addition of the e-ray machines, it seems as if they have formulated how to get people through the security line much more efficiently.

Memphis doesn’t have a stellar reputation for southern hospitality as would be expected. Despite that, the TSA agents who I came in contact with were polite and professional. This is much better than it was several years ago. It may also have to do with travelers being more aware of the policies.

I don’t know how much TSA agents are paid (Does anyone here?). What I’ve found is that poor attitude more often than not stems from bad management, as @whitenoise points out. This can also do with lack of recognition and not having the supplies or adequate staffing in order to do their job well.

It must be exhausting for them to be on constant alert for a potential problem. That and dealing with cranky travelers.

@JLeslie No, I agree, there is more inconsistency between airports than within the same airport. There is a lot of inconsistency within each border crossing, though.

@dappled_leaves The toughest border crossing I ever went through was on a bus from Montreal, QC to Burlington, VT. Maybe they have stuff being smuggled coming through there or something? They pulled people in for questioning behind closed doors and searched luggage more than I have ever seen. They asked me more questions than usual. I have crossed by car into MI, I have flown out of Vancouver, all within the last 5 years or so, and that QC/VT crossing was the worst for both land and air. They weren’t mean at the border, but unusually rigorous and seemed on high alert. I was surprised.

Memphis airport is always annoying to me. The only other airport that I have had an unusual experience that I mentioned above was Detroit. The first time I flew out of there that I was thinking whoa this is extreme (meaning I have flown out of there many times before, but this time was in a class by itself) it was a few weeks before the underwear bomber heading for Detroit was caught. So, I assume there was some sort of chatter. I try to remember that when an airport TSA gets a little crazy. Maybe they know something in the ivory tower and are trying to be extra careful.

Edit: Oh, and flying out of VT they extra patted down my husband, which never happens. He went through all the scanners, but when we were on line they also asked to pat down his pants that had many pockets. They were nice though, we didn’t mind at all, but it is the only time it has happened and he often wears those pants for travel. It was interesting since it happened after the tough border coming back into VT from QC.

I don’t have one, because all of my flying experiences have been normal.

I think flying is easier for men in general. What to do you think? Women have to worry more about liquids because of make-up and lotions, and it can all be more frustrating. I check my bag most of the time now. Most of my adult life I almost never checked, but now with the liquids requirements it’s too difficult. This actually has resulted in me travelling with heavier bigger luggage. If I have to check, I might as well use a bigger bag and take everything instead of worrying about editing down what clothes I bring.

@whitenoise Absolutely it must trickle down from management. It is management of staff and airport planning that sets me up to hate that airport regarding security check. I don’t know if they have finalized their renovation of the main security area (it already had been changed somewhat when I lived there; terminal B for people familiar with the airport like @Pied_Pfeffer) but still having my bags out of my site while waiting for a pat down was still going on, which is simply out of compliance with federal regulations. I wrote a letter to management with the copy of the TSA fecpdera requirements and walked it upstairs to their offices and handed it to someone. I never received a response. I have mentioned it to TSA while patting me down if the agent was a supervisor. All a risk in a way, because TSA can be jerks if you challenge them, but no one was a jerk when I complained about not having my luggage in my view. No one cares I guess?

No one cares that it makes the airport liable, makes them look terrible in terms of customer service, and could in the long term cost them more money when they have to renovate again if they ever really gets in trouble for not following the TSA requirements. It drives me crazy the incompetence. Probably most people don’t worry about it like me, because most people go through the X-ray and most people don’t think about what can go wrong with their belongings.

@Pied_Pfeffer I wouldn’t say the TSA at Memphis isn’t polite or professional, they just seem unable to think if something is not perfectly by the book. They don’t handle unusual situations with empathy and as you can see the management seems to ignore the requirements. Hopefully, my complaint has been addressed and they have changed the waiting for pat down situation since the last time I was there. Since you go through the X-ray it probably is fairly smooth for you in Memphis. When I travel with my husband he just picks up the tray with my purse so I don’t have to think about it, but I often travel alone.

They are inconsistent. My husband was allowed to walk his mom to her gate one time, and another time he wasn’t. We have never tried to do that at other airports, so we don’t know how flexible other airports are regarding this.

@JLeslie When that happened to me, I very loudly informed the agent that it was federal regulations that my luggage not be removed from my sight. I said I’d allow my luggage out of my sight ONLY if that particular agent was willing to take full responsibility for my luggage if anything went missing out of it. I said I had arrived in plenty of time so I could wait until they had time to work with me, but no, my luggage would remain in my sight until they had time to do it right.

Maybe I just hit a lucky day, but I got what I wanted.

@snowberry I never thought to hold onto my stuff until someone was ready to take me. The site line has always been in my mind from where they hold me to where my stuff comes off the conveyer belt. Thanks. Very helpful.

@whitenoise said “You will not believe what a bunch of entitled asswipes airline travellers can be.”

Entitled? Yes, It was my hard earned cash I parted with for the flight.

I have respect due me simply for being a civilized human being.

@JLeslie They don’t go “by the book”, it’s about how a particular agent or TSA manager interperets said book! That’s at least part of the reason why TSA behavior varies from city to city.

What part of the book describes how to snap a cellist’s $20K 19th century bow in half and crack the back of the cello as well?

http://www.infowars.com/tsa-snaps-world-renowned-cellists-20000-bow/

Subhuman scum.

@SecondHandStoke That might have been in one of the training videos they had them watch!

Not sure how to handle this

Things like this irritate me.

“If you bring too much liquid through security, the TSA confiscates it in case it’s a bomb. So they throw it away….. in the garbage can right next to them. You know, in case it’s a bomb.” Steve Hofstetter