If airline passengers are feeling hassled by the never-ending stream of airline hidden fees that are driving up their travel costs for the holidays and planes that are more crowded than ever, they now have another boogieman, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) making holiday travel more of a hassle.
TSA is unwrapping gifts, slowing down screening systems, subjecting passengers to punitive pat-downs should they have the temerity to decline a virtual strip search or extra dose of radiation and introducing new Secure Flight check-in requirements.
Unwrapping holiday gifts
We all have known that it may not be the best idea to wrap presents for the holidays and they try to go through airport security. It seems that TSA has received a secret message that the next terrorist bomb will come disguised as a present wrapped with a bow. Whether or not that intelligence insight is true or not, inspectors may require any wrapped gift that seem suspect to be unwrapped.
My suggestion for anyone planning on bringing gifts for either Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays — don’t. Ship them ahead of time using FedEx or UPS (or if you have plenty of time, use the postal service). Not only will travelers spare themselves the problem of having gifts unwrapped (in both carry-on and checked luggage), but they can save the extra airline baggage fees that can amount to $120 round-trip. Plus, unlike the airlines where getting your bag at the end of your trip is still hit-or-miss, FedEx and UPS will track your package and guarantee its arrival date. Plus, the costs are less if you use normal shipping instead of overnight services.
Slower screening systems
The arguments about whole-body scanners stripping passengers naked have been going on for years. TSA really doesn’t care. The more transparency the better from their point of view. Questions about excess radiation and the unknown effects are routinely dismissed even though many doctors are recommending that pregnant women and children avoid the new backscatter machines. That’s old news.
The new problem that is rising to the top when it comes to airports and airlines is the extra time that these new whole-body scanners take to process passengers. Lines are getting longer slowing down the TSA inspections at airports where whole-body scanners are in use at every inspection lane. With the extra crowds expected for Thanksgiving and Christmas, these security lines are only going to get longer and longer. Passengers’ patience will get shorter and shorter.
Punitive pat-downs
TSA is introducing, just in time for the mirth of the holidays, new “enhanced” pat-down techniques. Little did we know that pat-downs have been a long-running issue with TSA. Originally, they were relatively benign, then the administration, according to discussions I have had with senior executives in Homeland Security decided to frisk passengers differently based on the reason for the pat-down.
In other words, passengers who had to be patted down because of medical reasons like pacemakers, hip and knee replacements got one relatively light level of pat-down. Those who refused to go through the whole-body scanners received a more robust pat-down. Folk who set off metal detectors were subjected to another type of pat-down. And so it went for what was mentioned to me as being five different types of pat-downs.
According to executives with whom I discussed these various pat-downs, training was too difficult for a selection of pat-downs, so the decision was made to treat everyone like a common criminal suspected of carrying a hidden snub-nosed pistol or secreting drugs or explosives. (No one at TSA or DHS has ever put it in those words. That is my own description.)
Be that as it may, anyone declining a walk through the whole-body scanner should get ready for what some have described as an abusive pat-down complete with hands to the crotch. Those who feel everyone is a potential terrorist will have warm and fuzzy feelings for the agent poking and probing their body. Others will feel violated.
Secure Flight requirements
Again, coming to an airport near you just in time for the holidays, TSA’s Secure Flight program will add new hassled for passengers and check-in personnel that will blindside most of them.
Basically, every airline ticket must have the full name of the passenger, their birth date and gender. This means airline tickets must list a passenger’s first, middle and last names. Many travelers who made reservations months ago in order to secure low prices will find themselves unable to check in at airport kiosks without a middle name on their ticket or in their record. They will have to wait in line and be checked in by an agent and have their middle name added to the record.
It is not rocket science to see that this will add uncertainty to the check-in process and a lot more time at the check-in counter should a traveler’s ticket be missing full name, birth date and gender.
Suggestion: Call your airline and make sure your tickets have all the appropriate information. If you have a passenger profile with any airline, now would be a good time to make sure your middle name is listed.
Finally, get to the airport early for check-in for any holiday travel. That advice is always useful because of the additional crowds, but this year, with TSA security point slowdowns and pending confusion, especially for Thanksgiving travel, the advice may be even more important.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
