Tidings Of Comfort & Joy

[redbrunja]

 After the failed Northwest Airlines bombing, the TSA tightened up its regulations, requiring that all flights in the US and coming to the US had every passenger patted down prior to boarding and carry only one item onboard, which will be searched by hand prior to boarding. Additionally, during the last hour of the flight, passengers are not allowed to leave their seats, access their luggage, or use handheld electronics, and must sit with their hands in plain view.

What this tells me is that the TSA is fairly clueless on how to keep travelers safe.

I am all for bumping up safety when attacks or threats happen; but the epic delays and cancellations that occurred when these new restrictions came into effect leads me to infer that the TSA does not have the infrastructure to deal with threats, which is ridiculous when you realize they have had nine years since September 11th.

And as for keeping your hands in sight and not using electronics during the last hour – frankly, that is treating people like criminals. I have a very emotional reaction to this; all I can think about is that after paying for an expensive ticket, taking an abnormal amount of time to prove that you are a.) who you say you are and b.) safe to have on a plane, you are treated like a prisoner being transported from one jail to another.

Furthermore, all it seems to do is show that the TSA safety procedures do not work. Or the TSA doesn't have faith that they do, if they think that after going through three different screening processes, they still believe there is a reasonable probability that passengers are carrying hazardous materials.

Finally, I have a huge problem with how mum the TSA is being about why they tightened restrictions and even WHAT the tightened restrictions are. One of the callers on NPR today flew in from Charles de Galle and commented that if he hadn't been a journalist and had access to the wires, he wouldn't have know what was going on.

Comments

[the-sun-is-up.livejournal.com]

Additionally, during the last hour of the flight, passengers are not allowed to leave their seats, access their luggage, or use handheld electronics, and must sit with their hands in plain view.

Oh good Christ, that's completely ridiculous. I'm glad I won't have to fly anytime in the forseeable future.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I know. I am so grateful all my traveling this christmas was by car and boat.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I wish that were the case with me.

[bluerising.livejournal.com]

These were only temporary measures, and they are lifted now. But yeah, I agree. It was still completely ridiculous. Not the appropriate response to the situation at all.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Nope. It was WAY to ineffectual to be the appropriate response.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, I wonder if this was the actual plot of the terrorists -- not to kill a handful of people, but to annoy the fuck out of millions. I mean, making passengers throw out cups of coffee that they just bought at the airport and are actively drinking, or a pair of folding scissors from my first aid kit that I had forgotten were in there and were actually rather blunt with rounded tips, or the guy who was deemed a terrorist for spending too long in the bathroom, when he was actually just very sick after eating the airport food.

. . . what happens if someone needs to use the bathroom during the hands-where-we-can-see period? Do they just have to hold it in? What if they have bladder problems? Do the airlines want to just let 'em soak the seats?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

If I believed extremist groups of any flavor could have a sense of humor, I'd buy that.

or the guy who was deemed a terrorist for spending too long in the bathroom, when he was actually just very sick after eating the airport food.

Sweet Jesus.

. . . what happens if someone needs to use the bathroom during the hands-where-we-can-see period? Do they just have to hold it in? What if they have bladder problems? Do the airlines want to just let 'em soak the seats?

Exactly my question. And since the TSA was barely talking about what measure were talking, they certainly weren't providing any answers.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Not so much a sense of humour, as the same view of efficiency in evil as Crowley.

Actually, I can see Crowley being behind the airport regulations. That's the same kind of style as you see from a guy who takes down a cell phone network for an afternoon to sow the seeds of evil in everyone.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Very true.

[korinacaffeine.livejournal.com]

The less-than-3oz. for liquids deal really bothers me. I went through airport security not too long ago, and I had my makeup bag packed deep inside my luggage bag. I had one of those TINY, TINY tester bottles for the perfume inside the makeup bag, and they absolutely tore apart my luggage, underclothes and all manner of personal items in plain view for everyone to see--just to put that perfume tester bottle in a plastic baggie. It's absolutely ridiculous, and like redbrunja said, after paying a damn fortune for the ticket, it's maddening to be treated like a criminal.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Heh. A while back, heading back from a convention, I'd been thoughtful enough to check in early. The airport I went to was one of the ones that x-rays your checked bags as well as your carry-on -- and I'd been careful enough to put anything that might be possibly viewed as dangerous or personal (knives, underwear) in the checked bag. I thought it would be safer that way.

They tore open my checked bag and pulled everything out because I'd packed a)a pair of metal toy handcuffs (they didn't actually lock) for a cosplay idea I later abandoned and b)some nice knives I'd picked up at the con (I collect 'em). I had to stand in the middle of the security area, unable to so much as approach my suitcase to tuck away the underwear, and wait for half an hour for the cops to arrive and tell the idiot that they were toy cuffs and that the knives were not actually illegal.

My various issues include social anxiety, and this did not help my condition one iota. Especially as I was not permitted to reach for my medication.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

UNACCEPTABLE! SO FUCKING UNACCEPTABLE!

Sweet jesus.

Especially as I was not permitted to reach for my medication.

I'm pretty sure that is actually ILLEGAL. Motherfuckers.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

The idiot couldn't tell the difference between a snapblade and a lockblade knife (basic def: One can be flicked open, the other takes some concentration to get the mechanism to release the blade).

The cop was not very nice, either, until the point at which the line of questioning revealed my mind was in the same place as it was during exam panic where I blanked on 'Name', and she finally thought to ask if I was on any medication while I attempted to keep the hyperventilation controlled.

Ha ha! You think legality matters to airport security? When you cross the border to the US with a laptop, they can copy your entire hard drive just to check and see if you've got anything on there that might be terrorist-related. A guy my brother knows works for an Australian company that had this contract with the US government, and were charged 400k for letting confidential files be copied. By the US government.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

*headdesk*

God, that is so... well, it's terribly believable, but it's just another blazing sign that things need to change greatly.

[hungrytiger11.livejournal.com]

I had a friend who had to travel back (home) during this holiday, and the delays were so bad she was in line for over three hours, and when she got to the desk, the Delta airport worker literally told her he didn't believe her that she had been in line that long and refused to let her into the boarding area behind security. Justifible gets a little upset;there are some tears. She notices the first class line is empty, so goes to see if the worker there might be of some help. The man there tells her, "There's a bathroom right over there. I want you to go in there and take a look at your face. Then you're going to see why I won't help you."She had to leave without ever getting on a plane or any refunds. Eventually she did manage several days later to get a flight and had camera equipment stolen.

The sad thing was, this was before the most recent attack; Delta had chosen this holiday season to implement their new screening process. I think, because there is relatively little competition between airlines or even from other forms of transportation, they feel they there is no recourse costumers can take, and once you have a ticket and are in midst of a journey you are even more at mercy to any lack of customer service.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Oh. My. God.

Did he say that to her because of her skin color? That miserable little fucker. I want to find him and beat the racist dickhead right out of him. I'm certainly not flying Delta anytime EVER.

She had to leave without ever getting on a plane or any refunds. Eventually she did manage several days later to get a flight and had camera equipment stolen.

Oh god. That poor, poor girl.

[qualapec.livejournal.com]

That miserable little fucker. I want to find him and beat the racist dickhead right out of him.

Can I help? I find things like that are always more successful as a group activity.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Sure! The more the merrier!

[sureasdawn.livejournal.com]

I tend to agree with my husband that all security is an illusion.

The TSA does not have and has never had the resources to adequately police the airline industry. It's going to come down to either all flying is halted indefinitely for being too unsafe or people are going to have to go on planes wearing airline-provided jumpsuits and no baggage at all. It's that absurd.

Guess what, you take one thing away, the people willing to harm others are going to find another way around it. I fully believe that there is no way to stop certain people until they demonstrate their intent to kill.

I really wish the TSA were transparent enough to actually give out some statistics on how effective they've been. All I see from them is hassling innocent people, thieving from the people they're supposed to be protecting and making themselves look like fools.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I agree.

At this point, part of me is tempted to go 'just screw the security and have us get on the planes fast, and we'll all just take our chances.'

I really wish the TSA were transparent enough to actually give out some statistics on how effective they've been. All I see from them is hassling innocent people, thieving from the people they're supposed to be protecting and making themselves look like fools.

*nods* That is one of the major things that pisses me off - the lack of accountability.

[meitah.livejournal.com]

These new regulations are incredibly stupid and completely unenforcible over the long run. I already feel bad for the flight attendants who have to try. This reeks of some little assistant to someone important thinking they'd get a pat on the back for being "thorough."

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

WORD.

[squeakchan.livejournal.com]

Wow. Returning to Japan's gonna suck.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Most of these were temporary, so probably it wouldn't be abnormally bad.

[qualapec.livejournal.com]

I find it entertaining how, every time something like this happens, control is heightened in a number of petty, useless ways, but nothing that can actually do any good is changed.

Although, I read on MSN today that the TSA was loosening some of the restrictions.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34601479/ns/travel-news

I cringe to think about what this will do for continued suspicion against non-white travelers.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Oh, totally. It really pisses me off.

[iapetusneume.livejournal.com]

I work in the luggage department of a department store, and you would be shocked just how much Australians are dumfounded by TSA regulations. I usually only mention the locks, but also reccomend that they check the website. Sometimes they get offended, despite the fact that I am doing everything I can to make sure they're informed when coming to the US.

And then they ask why the TSA has the rules they do, and after the end of these discussions I pretty much say: "Please don't kill the messenger."

So yes. The rest of the world is baffled by the TSA. Hell, us Americans are baffled by the TSA!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Unsurprising!

I was actually going to mention how much I dislike the TSA inflicting their regulations on other countries and airports.

Again, if I believed what they were doing was effective, I might have a different pov about it.

[ivy-chan.livejournal.com]

Fucking brilliant. I can see that the trip to Puerto Rico's going to be a bucket of fun. I'm glad they were temporary measures, but damn. And yes, seconding the unhappiness about the predjudice against non-white passengers. I've heard some horror stories.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Hopefully these ineffectual and inconvenience measure will have vanished by the time you have to travel.

[hazard-us.livejournal.com]

Each new regulation does nothing. Like someone said above, terrorists just get around whatever stupid rule is put in place. And let me say, as a chemist, a 3 oz limit wouldn't stop me from causing some serious damage, if not just general fun terror panic.

And who cares what the rules are if they don't enforce them consistently? On the way home before Christmas, I forgot about my scissors for my embroidery in my embroidery bag. Guess who got them through security? Yeah.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I think just about everybody has a story like that. It's not very encouraging.

And remind me never to get on a plane with you.