Yesterday I wrote about the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) new enhanced pat downs being ineffective, providing commentary from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) anti-terrorism expert. The DHS expert detailed how someone could potentially smuggle explosives through both the new whole-body-imaging scanners and discussed technology under development that could identify concealed items. After posting the…
Today is Veterans Day in the United States … and it is also the day the armistice was signed to end World War I … “The war to end all wars” … back in 1918. So, for those of you flying today who have been given an upgraded seat, whether you’re flying in the United…
Readers frequently write me complaining of their interactions with the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) front line Transportation Security Officers (TSO). For the most part over the past few years my interactions with the TSA’s front line agents have been generally been fairly uneventful … even pleasant at times … although I knew at some point…
With all the negative press related to of aviation security and by extension the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) over the past week, today I’d like to step back and discuss what the TSA is doing to make air travel safer … taking a look back over the month. The TSA’s primary mission, in response to…
Over the past few years the topic of “Security Theater” has come up more often than passengers complaining about checked baggage fees. The inconsistencies surrounding passenger security often makes for a quick sound bite on the news, or a one liner quote in print (and online) stories because it is generally an easy topic to…
Tom Quinn, the former head of the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) had once stated that “We’ve gotten it right,” in regard to how the Federal Air Marshal Service is being operated, however a number of Air Marshals do not believe it is being done right, from multiple points of view. For many the job…
The U.S. Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) has been in the news more often than they would like recently … and as I have been researching aspects of the Federal Air Marshals recently on an unrelated topic … this is probably an ideal time to write a multi-part series on these Federal Agents in the…
Ahhh … airport security regulations preventing items from passing with a passenger through a security checkpoint. They are not always consistent, and sometimes the encounters while frustrating at the time can be humourous once the dust has settled later on. This week’s reader mail comes from Ron in Houston. Ron asks “With Lady Gaga being…
Today’s reader mail was apparently inspired by a reader mail post from this past July, and is one that isn’t really a fair question. This reader mail comes from Marcy who asks “I just finished reading your “Why does it seem you hate the TSA?” reader mail and was struck with this question, why do…
The other day as I checked the comments section for Flying With Fish I was met with a link back to a blog post by Chuck “Caveman” Coker entitled “I Hate the TSA” … naturally my interest was piqued. As I checked the “I Hate the TSA” link the first thing that caught my eye…
