National Opt Out Day

As most should know by now, today is the day. Will there be even more massively long lines than usual? We should know in a couple of hours. TSA/CAS will be attempting to have two lines at those checkpoints with the AIT. One for those that want to go through the naked body scanner, and one for those that are opting out.

We will say this for those that want to know. We know of no TSO/LTSO/STSO that actually enjoys looking at the images or of any Officer that enjoys performing the new pat downs. Most either just suck it up and do it or begrudgingly do it. It's not a pleasurable thing for Officers either way. It's just our job.

As generally the case with a hierarchical structure such as the TSA, the orders come from the top and work their way down to the men and women on the front lines. If we refuse to do it, we could lose our job, since it is considered part of our job. So if you're a member of the flying public, keep that in mind before you decide to tear in to an Officer for doing their job. What we do recommend is that you write a formal letter of complaint to TSA, DHS, the Whitehouse, and your congressman or congresswoman.

I can only speak for myself on this issue, and I know that I am in the minority with most of my co-workers in saying that I think the AIT as well as these new pat down procedures to be ludicrous. If, as Janet Napolitano and John Pistole are saying that it's necessary for security, then why did it take TSA 10 months to implement the new pat down procedures? Why did TSA react to the Yemen threat by banning printer cartridges of a certain size when any number of things that come through a check point could contain an IED?

These are the types of questions that the media should be asking of Napolitano and Pistole. Congress should be demanding answers to these questions. TSA spent $45 million dollars over two year ago attempting to implement Checkpoint Evolution in which one of the stated things was to become more proactive and not reactive. Once again, why have all of TSA's latest actions not only been reactive, but downright overreactive?

TSA has become a bloated behemoth of a monster. I know that I differ with some of my fellow contributors to this blog when I state that replacing Covenant Aviation Security with TSA at SFO is simply not the panacea that many think it will be. To replace one incompetent bureaucracy (CAS) with an even larger incompetent bureaucracy (TSA) hardly seems worthwhile. And just who is TSA accountable to when they screw up?