Letter of the Day : The TSA Should Be At All Airports Flying To The US
28/12/2009 – Letter of the Day : The TSA Should Be At All Airports Flying To The US
This morning while reading a few dozen emails and sorting through 30+ comments regarding the events surrounding Delta Air Lines Flight 253 and the TSA implementing Security Directive SD-1544-09-06 I received an e-mail with a question that caught my eye.
The email poses this question…
“Foreign airports appear to have insufficient security measures. The TSA Should Be At All Airports Flying To The US. Why haven’t they done this yet?” – Linda
Linda there are many factors why TSA screeners are not posted at airports globally. The fact of the matter is this, TSA agents are posted at a few airports outside the United States, such as Shannon, Ireland and Canadian gateways to the United States, however the US has absolutely no right to post TSA agents globally.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is part of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is a Federal Agency. While the United States has law enforcement and military personnel posted globally, it must be at the invitation of the host nation. Not only would posting TSA screeners globally cost an exorbitant amount of money, but it would also be a bad move politically.
Overall I feel that most TSA screeners do their job well. They do it with professionalism and diligence…I also have the same opinion of Airport Security personnel from other nations, including the UK, France, Hong Kong, China, Bahrain, Kuwait, Canada, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, etc etc. The United States has absolutely no right to go into these nations and require them to terminate their airport security and implement the TSA.
Each country can create a security directive for flights headed to their nation, but they cannot impose their own security forces and law enforcement on a foreign nation.
Hope that answers your question.
Happy Flying!
Security screening in Canada and Ireland on flights to the US isn’t done by the TSA; it’s done by local agencies (in Canada, CATSA). You’re confusing customs pre-clearance with security screening.
According to the TSA, there are TSA Agents on-site at these locations
Happy Flying!
-Fish
Why not require local agencies screening for inbound flights to adhere to TSA standards?
Even better, make them adhere to a system that works
I’ve actually had found that airport screening for flights to the US from Seoul, Tokyo and London to be much much more thorough than what the TSA does in the US. I’m sure this isn’t the case with all international airports, but just because it’s outside the US doesn’t make it a security risk.