I think every one of us needs to take a few minutes and write our elected officials about this. If a few thousand letters and emails show up on the desks of our representatives and senators they might listen.

We can't get through, in uniform, with proper identification yet a 10 year old can sneak through and get on a Southwest flight for the second time in two years. Makes me feel really confident in the capabilities of TSA officials.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24847377/

I think it's time we do something more than *****ing about a change for the positive.

 

What's odd, is that in the past year and a half, I've been commuting out of there and have had no problems whatsoever until today... Even the AA ticket agents wondered what the hell was going on... They thought I was kidding when I asked them for a gate pass...

 

Four letters: FFDO. Problem solved.

 

Agreed.

However, if we had more competent security the FFDO would never even come into play.

 

The section you are asking about is: November 1, 2007 Amendment to section 4.3.1.b.1 of the AOSSP

Good luck, however, I think that if little things like "facts" and "procedures" and "law" got in their way, they wouldn't have ended up where they are now, at the peak of the pyramid in the aviation world.

 

The problem with the TSA is they are not highly trained professionals doing a job like customs or border patrol agents they are community college drop outs with a badge. They know it. We know it. They know that we know it. It's not about the rules it's about the satisfaction they get when they get to exercise authority over a crewmember "you think you're better than me I'll show you who's in charge here..." If they had any real authority they would be able to exercise discretion in those kinds of situations but they don't they're just robots doing what they've been programmed to do. Back before 9/11 no screener would have dared to treat a crewmember that way. But pin that TSA badge on them and now they have "authori-tay". CrewPASS now!

 

Excuse this if it comes bad I'll fix it in a bit as I'm typing on my iPhone and am really ****ed. This past week in BOS I was nonreving my parents and wanted to go with them past the assclowns and I was going to to down to PHL with them to PHL to see them get on. I passed in front of my parents who had a boarding pass but no seat assignent. The asshat TSA guy nearly had a fit with my dad; he told him he is a security threat, and they hauler him off for more screening. I stepped in and tried to explain what we happening, but the ass would have nothing of it. I had to talk to a state trooper and only then did the problem work itself out. I mean my dad is a normal American wth a slight Portuguese accent, def not a security threat. What ****ed me off us how they treated him, they actually put thief grimy hands on him. This HAS to stop!

 

The Email I sent to my senators and Representative. It took about 20 minutes to type this up and send it to all three (greetings changed, of course). I hope everybody can take a few minutes and do something similiar:

Senator xxx,

As an airline pilot, I have seen great challenges in the past 8 years. Terrorism, mergers, bankruptcies and now sky-high oil prices have caused a lot of uncertainty.

Recently, a report came out that fewer people are flying. The reason isn't costs, but the hassle. A major source of this hassle is the TSA.

The attacks on 9-11 required us to take a look at how we handled airport security and also required a dramatic change. Tighter checkpoints and more scrutiny of passengers is an unfortunate need in these times. However, the TSA does not provide this. In recent weeks there have been a number of breeches including a homeless man on an aircraft at Lambert St.Louis International and a 10 year old being caught by gate agents in Seattle after observing the security checkpoint and sneaking through.

My question is this: If a 10 year old is capable of doing this, how can we not assume that professionally trained individuals who mean to do harm are not capable of this? What's worse is the fact that this same 10 year old did the same thing last year.

Every day I have the displeasure of dealing with TSA agents. What I encounter is often rude, ignorant and indifferent agents making their own rules to flex what little muscle they have simply for causing a hassle. I've had agents inform me incorrectly of rules, such as the absurd 3-1-1 rule, which doesn't apply to pilots. I've also been required to get a boarding pass to commute to work in Indianapolis despite being in uniform with a valid ID. More and more resources are taken from the normal lines to establish the Clear system, where we find at least three agents standing by doing nothing, in addition to the many standing in the vicinity of the checkpoint waiting to move a few tubs.

With the summer travel season upon us, we have enough to worry about without having the consistent ineptitude of these agents. They are responsible for safety of air travel yet time and time again they have proven regardless of location or time that they are no more capable than the privatized security in place on the day our country changed forever. I hope that congress can take a close look and realize that the system is broken and needs to be fixed.

Respectfully,
Pilotpip

 

Did you actually sign it "Pilotpip?" LoL

 

You know it.