Deny it all you want...

Mr. Mica, but we know better.

( Finally, there are others who believe what we have suspected for quite some time.)

You can't fool all of the people all of the time!

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/micas-ties-private-airport-security-company-questi/nPJLX/

So, what do you think happens now?

There is legislation in the Senate today that would force the TSA to let airports opt out of the Federal screening program. If it passes it will go to Obama, who is expected to approve and sign on said legislation.

More private companies with government contracts means more union dues for union coffers. Since unions are the biggest contributors to President Obama's re-election campaign, we can all guess where the dues will go.

There are two loopholes for the TSA to use. They would have to prove that, as the BusinessWeek article states, the "move wouldn’t be cost-effective and would be detrimental to security."
Of those two loopholes, the easiest path for the TSA seems to be the old standby, "that it would be detrimental to security!"

How would the TSA substantiate their complaints against Covenant? Testing, testing and more testing! They would have to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that private companies are not capable of providing the quality of security comparable to that which the TSA provides.

So, once again, does anyone think that the TSA will just sit idly by and watch their "empire" shrink?

We think not. If we thought that we were tested before, think again. This new legislation will bring the testing to an even more intense level, and the battle lines have been drawn.

Buckle up; we are in for a rough ride.

How do we protect ourselves?

With everything that the TSA has, and will, throw at us the next question should be, how do I protect myself from a loss of employment?

The simple answer is to follow the SOP 100% of the time!

Not sure, or don’t remember what you have read way back when? Tell your supervisor that you need and want to refresh your memory about the SOP procedures. Document when you told your supervisor and where you were. (Such as Pier B, Pier C, etc.) Have a witness who will be able to verify that this actually took place and jot down the time.

Once again, do not let an unresolved alarm go. Do not release a person or their property until you are absolutely certain that the alarm has been resolved. Do not look at the length of the line or the number of bags waiting to be screened. Do what we have been hired to do. Our only function is to provide security according to the TSA SOP standards.

Overreacting is our game

We got word that if any Officer misses an MPT test bag, that Officer is now off X-ray pending a one hour session of TRX and a half hour talk with a terminal manager. Ok, if this isn't a sign that Covenant is panicking, we don't know what is. The word is that this ever brilliant idea came from the one and only Donnie Filbert. Perhaps this is a reaction to Covenant not getting their contract rubber stamped and only extended.

What we want to know is exactly what that discussion with a terminal manager is going to entail? Every single manager has not been ATSA certified for several years now. So how is someone who never works the X-ray and hasn't been certified for several years going to be able to give guidance to an Officer that fails one of these tests? Frankly, this just reeks of intimidation. In other words, you better perform better or we're going to start threatening you with discipline or worse yet, termination.

Imagine that you do fail one of these tests. You now can no longer operate the X-ray. You then have to go up to the training lab and do an hour of TRX. And then comes the meeting with a terminal manager. You'll get called in to their office. You're afraid of being punished. They start interrogating you as though you're a perp being accused of a crime. How in the hell does that improve anything? How does that make security better? What the hell is a manager going to say to that Officer? WHEN WILL THIS STOP???!!!

Covenant, get your stuff together! The intimidation factor that you have been so reliant on all these years is starting to deteriorate. It's not working and we're not going to sit idly by and let you people get away with it. You may have local TSA in your back pocket, but we're on to you. Enough is enough!