[IP] What Price Freedom? TSA's Holiday Surprise
I was in Narita this weekend and their security process is fast, looks as
good and endlessly friendly.
Dave
From Capitol Hill Blue
What Price Freedom? TSA's Holiday Surprise By DALE McFEATTERS Nov 10, 2003,
03:35
There are surprises in life, but two of them are not Thanksgiving and
Christmas. They come at the same time every year. And it's no surprise that
Americans travel en masse over those holidays, the Sunday after
Thanksgiving said to be the year's busiest travel day.
The Transportation Security Administration knows those holidays are coming,
but it would be comforting to know that the TSA is taking positive measures
to do something about other than warn people to show up even earlier at the
airport.
Once TSA had a goal of passengers waiting no more than 10 minutes to pass
through its security screening. However, TSA officials are preparing to
tell passengers arrive at the airport an hour and a half before flight
time. The authority that runs the two major airports in Washington, D.C.,
says two hours is more like it.
And even though Americans are generous gift givers over the holidays, woe
to the passenger who arrives at security with the gifts already wrapped.
To be fair to TSA, Congress, which insisted on government hired and
government paid screeners, is now complaining about the cost and demanding
cuts in TSA's workforce. And the agency's task isn't made easier by jokers
like Nathaniel Heatwole who smuggled box cutters aboard aircraft just to
show it can be done, forgetting that TSA's objective is not to stop
contraband but to stop hijackings _ which it has done.
But enough of sympathy for TSA. The traveling public has problems, too, and
these take precedence.
Rather than just hope to struggle through the holidays without angering too
many people, TSA should try to show that the screening process can be
conducted, in Sen. John McCain's words, with "predictability and dignity,"
and that true security doesn't involve hassling grandmothers and infants
and ordering passengers to remove their belts and shoes.
The headlines on stories about the agency's appearance before Congress
tended to run like this: "Holiday Travelers Should Plan on Long Lines, TSA
Says." That's so government. The wording ought to be more like this: "TSA
Should Plan on Holiday Travelers So There Are No Long Lines."
As we said, it's not like the holidays are a surprise.
© Copyright 2003 Capitol Hill Blue
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/