Group W Bench

TSA: Pilots to be exempt from some airport checks - Yahoo! News

By DAVID KOENIG and EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press David Koenig And Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press – 3 mins ago
WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration has agreed to let airline pilots skip the security scanning and pat-downs that passengers face at the nation's airports, pilot groups said Friday.
Beginning Friday, pilots traveling in uniform or on airline business will be allowed to pass security by presenting two photo IDs, one from their company and one from the government, to be checked against a secure flight crew database, the TSA said.
The Obama administration's retreat on screening pilots comes less than a week before the hectic Thanksgiving holiday travel period. Some travelers are threatening to protest the security measures by refusing to go through the scanning machines. Airlines are caught in the middle.
Pilots welcomed the changes.
"This looks good. It's basically what we've been after for 10 years," says Sam Mayer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Associationat American Airlines, the union that raised objections to the new screening process about two weeks ago. "Pilots are not the threat here; we're the target."
Pilots have also argued that it made no sense to subject them to the same screening process as passengers since they control the plane. If they were intent on terrorism, they could crash it and the scanners wouldn't provide extra safety.
TSA offered few details about the specific changes in screening of pilots, which expands a program tested at airports in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C.
"Pilots are trusted partners who ensure the safety of millions of passengers flying every day," said TSA Administrator John Pistole. He said putting pilots through a faster screening process would be a more efficient use of the agency's resources.
Pistole has defended the invasive pat-downs and said intelligence about potential terrorist attacks and plots to evade airport security have guided these changes.
Still, some lawmakers want a review of the government's pat-down procedure.
Pilots have complained about possible health effects from radiation emitted by full-body scanners that produce a virtually naked image, and they said that pat-downs by security inspectors were demeaning. Passengers have lodged similar complaints, but the government is not changing the screening requirements for air travelers.
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Koenig reported from Dallas.
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I will believe it when I see it, FREE Crewpass NOW!!! ~W

meeko031

I made a comment about six months ago to the tsa before I walked through the metal detectors regarding another tsa agent coming back from lunch with more than 3oz of liquid in her water bottle. that was not a very smart move on my part!! guy basically ripped me a new one

dashtrash300

I saw a TSA agent with a stack of junior TSA agent stickers....I asked her for one then said "so this is how easy it is to become a TSA agent."

This article makes it sound like crewpass is now up and running.

"The Transportation Security Administration has agreed to let airline pilots skip the security scanning and pat-downs that passengers face at the nation's airports, pilot groups said Friday.
Beginning Friday, pilots traveling in uniform or on airline business will be allowed to pass security by presenting two photo IDs, one from their company and one from the government, to be checked against a secure flight crew database, the TSA said."

Do we still have to go through the metal detector?

resetjet

Not so fast:

Pilots To Be Exempted From TSA Scan, Pat-Down

WhistlePig

1. That's sounds great for the the folks on the pointy end, but what about cabin crew?

2. Does anyone have an observation on the possibility that the frequent flying public could become so disgruntled with the TSA that it could spur market solutions in the form of expanded corporate flight departments, NetJets (or similar) expansion, more affordable on demand charter, or growth in the private pilot market and plane ownership?

Group W Bench

guess I wont be needing these!!!

Flying Pasties™ The ORIGINAL Airport Scanner Protector - Giving You Back Your Right To Privacy

Funky Twins

Well, here is TSA's answer to that.
Breast Cancer Survivor Forced to Remove Prosthetic Breast by Aggressive TSA Agents

Friday, November 19, 2010


A North Carolina flight attendant and breast cancer survivor says she was forced to remove her prosthetic breast during an airport groping by a pair of aggressive TSA agents.
Cathy Bossi lives in south Charlotte, NC. She has been a flight attendant for the past 32 years, working for U.S. Airways the past 28 years.
Bossi told WBTV News she was walking through security when she says she was asked to go through the new full body-scanners at Concourse “D” at Charlotte Douglas International.
She reluctantly agreed. As a 3-year breast cancer survivor she says she didn’t want the added radiation through her body.
“The T.S.A. Agent told me to put my I.D. on my back,” she says. “When I got out of there she said because my I.D. was on my back, I had to go to a personal screening area.”
She says two female Charlotte T.S.A. agents took her to a private room and began what she calls an aggressive pat down. She says they stopped when they got around to feeling her right breast where she’d had surgery.
“She put her full hand on my breast and said, ‘What is this?’. And I said, ‘It’s my prosthesis because I’ve had breast cancer.’ And she said, ‘Well, you’ll need to show me that’.”
Cathy was asked to show her prosthetic breast, removing it from her bra.
“I did not take the name of the person at the time because it was just so horrific of an experience, I couldn’t believe someone had done that to me. I’m a flight attendant. I was just trying to get to work.”
Since then, Cathy has contacted the Legislative Affairs Team, a group through the flight attendant union. She says she wants to see a crackdown on these personal pat downs.
“There are blowers and there are dogs out there that can sniff out bombs,” she says. “There’s no reason to have somebody’s hands touching your body parts.”

stoki

Timing is perfect for this to take some heat off the TSA since it is really cranking up.

All over the news, and rightly so. Nobody should have to deal with that BS, not only pilots.