MikeMpls

My protests stop short of being obstructive or "testing" the screeners.

I've simply quit being prepared at the gate.

I used to stop short of the screening area and place my belt, keys, cell phone, etc. in my carryon, pre-open my laptop case so I can whip it out & place in a bin in record time, etc.

No more. I take everthing out/off in the screening line again just like a newbie.

Post screening, I used to tuck my laptop & shoes under my arms and wander off to the first convenient place in concourse to reassemble/redress myself.

No more. I do it at the end of the conveyor belt.

My protest is just shuffling through process like a tired old sheep.

I do find the idea of plastic booties attractive.

SDF_Traveler

From what I understand, PPBM is still being used, but it is limited to International and overwater flights (i.e. LAX-HNL).

I've been in the airport terminal when flights to places like NRT have been delayed and held at the gate while the GA's are franticly looking for a missing passenger.

Also been on Intl flights where we have had to wait for the unloading of bags from no-shows. For most domestic flights, I don't think they bother -- besides, there have been times my luggage has arrived on another flight before I have.

SDF_Traveler

JakiChan

Think of the CHILDREN!

AINITFUNNY

There is an inconsistancy here. If bags cannot travel without their owner, how is it they often end up on the wrong airplane at the wrong destination and how in the hell would they ever be reunited with their rightful owner if they could not be sent to the proper destination without the owner aboard???

nrr

The op of this thread's protest would (could) inconvenience other pax.
Another idea i'd like to throw out:
if lots of people bought fully refundable fc tickets (expensive seats ) and then later cancelled, making it clear to the airline that it was because of the inconveniences caused by the current regulations that they are cancelling, this might prod the airlines (a more powerful voice than individual pax) to get some of the current idiocy stopped.

etch5895

I think this would harm the airlines and other passengers more than it would the TSA.

"if lots of people bought fully refundable fc tickets (expensive seats ) and then later cancelled, making it clear to the airline that it was because of the inconveniences caused by the current regulations that they are cancelling, this might prod the airlines (a more powerful voice than individual pax) to get some of the current idiocy stopped."

Or it would force the airline to do away with 1st class because it is not profitable, or the airlines do away with refundable tickets. I think they would react pretty swiftly and the results would not benefit the travelling public.

AngryDan

Uhm...I know that this may come as a surprise to you but making an ... of yourself and delaying your fellow passengers does not make you a freedom fighter.

There are effective protest methods out there. For one you can write your congressman or the airlines. This method has changed TSA policy in the past. The pat down procedure was modified because of public pressure primarily from female passengers. Despite recent changes, the TSA as an organization has responded to the shoe screening concerns.

Believe it or not we do have an established practice for addressing government policies you disagree with. It's called an election. If this matters enough to you, find a candidate who opposes TSA policies and support him. If you truly believe in your ideas, you should let them stand the test of an election.

You could refuse to fly. And you could send a letter to the airlines telling them that you won't fly.

Or better yet, you could buy a ticket and refuse to cooperate with TSA at the checkpoint. Make a statement saying that you won't comply and attempt to bypass the screening process. When you are arrested, challenge the constitutionality of the law in court. You may not win. But you have a moral obligation to fight unjust laws. Think of it. You would be like Ghandi or Martin Luther King spending time in jail opposing an unjust law. Please do this!

I believe in the TSA. I don't believe in everything the TSA has done. But I believe in the TSA enough to make a career out of it. If you oppose the TSA's policies you should stand behind your beliefs enough to do something besides make an ... of yourself. Truly stand up for your beliefs.

The other day, someone compared me to a NAZI stormtrooper for not allowing him to carry his Old Spice through the checkpoint. I had so many thoughts. First of all, if I was really comparable to a NAZI guard then I don't think he would be able to insult me with impunity. I smiled and offered him a complaint form. I don't think the NAZIs had a complaint forms.

Secondly, don't you think that if you really believe that the TSA was comparable to an organization that committed genocide that you have some obligation to do something besides delaying flights. I am forced to conclude that you don't really believe what you say, or that you aren't really willing to stand up for your beliefs. Either way we end with the way this post started. You are just making an ... of yourself.

breny

I agree. I suggested it in another thread a week or two ago. There wasn't much enthusiasm for the idea, unfortunately.

The airlines have been way too quiet on this issue. Lobbying groups get laws, regs and legislation changed every day. But right now they have very little motivation to do so. The only way to get them to step up is to hit them where it hurts, the bottom line.

nrr

But the election process is slow--we need more immediate action.

knotyeagle

If you don't think Nazi fits, what about brigand, STASI, troll at a bridge, bureaucratic henchman? Perhaps you should read the other rules your brethren at TSA have come up for other industries and you'd see why TSOs are not so popular.

Please don't expect people to be polite/reasonable with you when your own organization is neither with the public. You are lucky that people are barely civil with you.

ContinentalFan

Does anyone know if every passenger checked the maximum allowable number of bags--at the maximum allowable weight--would most aircraft have the capacity to handle all these extra bags?

catocony

AngryDan,

Most of us travel because it is part of our jobs. If we don't travel, we can't do our jobs as well as we do. Therefor, the people who disagree with you are probably not tourists who get on a plane once a year and wouldn't know the differences in security because they have no point of reference. Being delayed for a half hour or so once a year is no big deal.

For the business traveler, being delayed a half hour or so several times a week, and with the possability that your luggage won't make it, is just not acceptable. If the airlines were 100% accurate with luggage and fast to unload, you would still have a problem with standbys, flight cancelations, etc.

One thing I've noticed - most TSA agents don't actually do much flying. When it's your job or business thats on the line, and you have to cancel meetings because your bag didn't make it to your final destination and the only reason you checked it was because of toiletries, that's a big hit. People get fired for stuff like that, even though it's out of their control.

So, the next time someone gets a bit upset about having to give up water or something, imagine if it was you, stuck on a plane for 3 hours at the gate with nothing to drink. Or if it's a rainy day and you're walking barefoot on a scuzzy airport floor getting mud or sand or salt or dogcrap or whatever on your feet just so someone can Xray your shoes. Little things like that.

boondoggie

Best quote of the day. Thanks AngryDan.

When the police break down your door in the middle of the night and drag you off to jail without letting you know what the charges are and you just "disappear", your civil liberties are being violated. When the police can chop off your fingers and rape your daughters in front of you, your civil liberties are being violated. When the government censors newspapers and doesn't allow free speech, your civil liberties are being violated.

When you're required to walk 20 feet without your shoes and aren't allowed to bring on your water bottles, it's an inconvenience. A hassle. But it's not a trip to a deathcamp.

And when you're trying to smuggle contraband onto an airplane, no matter how little sense the law makes to you, you're a criminal. And a jerk.

I approach TSA officers as professionals, and they treat me well. They've always been polite and even somewhat apologetic that they have to search me.

If you're getting different treatment from them, then perhaps you're nervous because you're trying to smuggle on water, you're anxious about the upcoming confrontation, and you're angry that you have to take off your shoes. Guess what? Nervous, anxious, and angry is the profile of people they're supposed to take a close look at. If you're getting hassled, perhaps you should take a look at yourself instead of blaming the guy that doesn't make the rules and is just trying to do his job.

When I think of the sacrifices the WWII generation had to make I realize just how wimpy this generation is. You're not being asked to storm the beaches at Normandy, just walk 20 feet without your shoes.

TierFlyer

Another best quote of the day.

My mother remembers having butter once a week during the war. My grandmother often talked sadly about giving up her aluminum pots and pans (very high tech back then) to make airplane wings. My family lost three men and one woman during the war. My wife's aunt spent four years in a Japanese POW camp in Asia.

I think I can make the sock walk and wait for water on board.

TierFlyer

And, AngryDan, remember that their mothers didn't bring them up very well. That they never learned to be polite to people doing a hard and low paying job. That they never learned that it is not all about them. That sometimes they're not the smartest person in the room. That is is not important to always be right. That quiet is often better than loud. That stripes do NOT go with plaid.

And, finally, if you'll allow me (I also travel a LOT) let me say thank you for doing your job as best you can, especially in the face of so many b*ttheads.