I travel to the US a couple times a year and I really like the work the US Government has done with Immigration and Customs. It is speedy, friendly and thorough. They've done a massive technology upgrade at the airports to give them the ability to collect more info, faster - top notch management at play!
On the other hand, the TSA presence has been less pleasant. Going through LAX can be eye opening. The number of times that I've had TSA officers bark orders at me or heard them berating other passengers for not understanding the myriad of changing rules and regulations is astounding.
One time I was coming from Orlando and my flight was behind schedule. I had to grab my bags at LAX, change terminals and go through security again to re-check my bag on the way to Sydney. When I arrived at the terminal, the security line was ridiculous and so I asked the TSA officer standing by if there was a business/first class line. I copped a gruff, "No. You wait in line like everybody else." Obviously my first thought was that I paid three times more than "everybody else" so the idea of preferred service shouldn't be so abhorrent. I then explained to the TSA officer that my connecting flight was late and I might miss my next flight because of the line, her response was, "That's your problem, you should have taken an earlier flight, now get in line." I made my Qantas flight anyway, but no thanks to the TSA.
Now fast forward to the present day. The TSA is still in a state of disarray. You have the "Pants Bomber" incident to highlight the mess. Immediately the TSA starts issuing odd directives forcing passengers to stay in their seats for at least the last hour of a flight, you can't use the inFlight entertainment and you can have nothing in your lap. Presumably the theory goes that if someone were going to try again, not letting them go to the loo might result in them putting out any fire themselves.
The dysfunction is systemic. The "Pants Bomber's" own father called the US Government and told them his son was a danger. He went on a list. You'd think that the Intelligence area of the TSA might have taken note of that - oh wait, the head of Intelligence, K Kauffman, is Acting Chief of the TSA so he's a bit busy. The reason he's not got his eyes on his own job is because the Republican party won't allow a vote in Congress to ratify the new appointee for the role. To make matters worse, 75 Republicans voted against even funding the TSA this year!
But there's enough blame to go around! President Obama is on holiday and apparently Hawaii is too far away for the President to return home from after a terrorist incident. Or was it just an incident? If it was just an incident and not a terrorist plot, then why on Earth did the TSA and Homeland Security department act like a bunch of porkchops and start making crazy rules on the fly?
Step on up Janet Napolitano, head of Homeland Security. Could someone please ask this lady to explain what exactly is going on at the TSA? New rules one day, lessening of the rules another day and finally complete abdication by leaving the enactment up to pilots and airlines. This demonstrates a complete lack of leadership within the TSA and ultimately Homeland Security as the President asked for everything to be reviewed.
The TSA's most recent declaration basically calls into question the entire need for it at all at the airports? Why not just make it mandatory for all airports that have flights inbound to the US or outbound from the US have millimeter wave scanners implemented within twelve months. Airports are either private enterprises or government owned, either way, the people responsible can afford it. Why not get rid of the TSA from the airports and spend that money on enhanced technology. If the TSA is just going to pass the buck on down to the airlines and heaven forbid the pilots, then who needs them?
Personally, I find the whole crazy act over the last week by the TSA difficult to swallow. We're supposedly fighting a global war on terrorism to maintain our freedom and some bloke sets his groin on fire and the TSA revokes basic rights like using a toilet. If the only way to protect our freedom is to take it away from us when it is under threat, then we've lost the war on terror already.
