President Obama signed a bill that will change the way the military are screened at airports by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The bill, H.R. 1801, is titled the “Risk-Based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act.” It, basically, directs the TSA to bring military personnel into its risk-based programs along with the frequent fliers and trusted travelers who are already covered.
{ 3 comments }
This seems like a simple question, but that loose change adds up. Last year the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) collected $376,480.39. It seems that TSA is just keeping the money. The Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA) has waded into this issue joining a two-year-old effort to have the money donated to charities such as the USO [...]
{ 7 comments }
Here are five predictions for the coming year. All in all, I think consumers are going to come out ahead in the coming year, airlines are going to find a road to profitability, TSA will streamline its inspection processes, airport restaurants and services will get better, communications about delays, cancellations and weather will make quantum leaps with new smartphone technology, and the overall world of airline travel will improve.
{ 3 comments }
What at first glance seemed to be merely another TSA mindless grab of cupcake frosting ended up having a silver lining. The TSA confiscation of “gel-like” frosting on a packaged Wicked Good cupcake created an unexpected surge in orders for a small Massachusetts company that came up with a novel way to conserve its cupcakes without freezing them.
{ 5 comments }
Limiting the searches that TSA personnel need to do will save thousands of hours of time, cut budgets dramatically, allow a focus on the most dangerous issues and move passengers through security more quickly and with fewer hassles.
{ 8 comments }
In the past, a few congressmen like Rep. John Mica (R-FL) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) have been thorns in the side of TSA. They have raged against the giant bureaucracy that the agency has become and the invasiveness of TSA searches. Today, other members of Congress from the Senate and House are joining the anti-TSA crowd.
{ 2 comments }
Ned Levi agrees with TSA that security screening should be applied to all air passengers, but questions how TSA has decided to apply their security procedures to all passengers. Ned discusses the question with examples of how some elderly air passengers and air passengers with medical devices were treated by TSA at airport security.
{ 11 comments }
In November, TSA Administrator, John Pistole, agreed to have an independent study of TSA’s full body scanners’ health effects on air passengers. Now Mr. Pistole is apparently backing away from his health safety testing commitment. Ned Levi discusses the health and safety issues of the scanners, and whether or not they can do the job for which they were purchased.
{ 3 comments }
This weekend we hear the director of TSA agree with us that checked-bag fees are bad, we take a look at hotel added fees that have been skyrocketing and a new passenger records privacy deals between the U.S. and the European Union.
{ 5 comments }
I’m no fan of the TSA’s current practices and it is doesn’t particularly care for me, either. The agency has lied to me, threatened me and served me with an illegal subpoena that would have forced me to name a source. (I declined.) But I support the idea of professional airport screeners, and I believe the TSA’s next decade can be a lot better than its first.
{ 6 comments }
