Atlanta Forward readers responded to last week’s column about the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) PreCheck program, which allows air travelers to streamline the security process. Here are some select comments:
ATL Born & Raised: All this "security theater" is a waste of resources and is likely doing little to actually thwart a potential terrorist strike. All it does is inconvenience millions of law-abiding people.
(the other) Rodney: I just returned (yesterday) from vacation – flew out of Hartsfield to Logan (Boston) and back. Both times, the security lines were "doable" – no more than 20 minutes in each. Maybe I just got lucky; I don't know. I guess my biggest issue is that you nearly have to strip naked to go through security. Surely those stand-up, raise-your-hands scanners can scan shoes for explosives? And if they're not "metal" detectors but fancy scanners, why do we still have to remove belts, watches, etc? That alone would save oodles of time.
Shamehia: "… when passengers can apply for enrollment directly through TSA — at a cost of $85 for five years." I was cool with the PreCheck plan until I got to that part. Not the cost, but the fact that we have to pay to prevent harassment. If the idea catches on, will they ask us to pay a fee to avoid having our telephone and email communications monitored by the NSA?
Dusty: I don't fly much. Evidently, that is a good thing. But the thought of flying off in a plane with passengers who have not been screened does not appeal to me. I don't think terrorists have forgotten us or have gone out of business. They may prefer our racing events at the moment, but air travel can be so spectacular for them. "Give me liberty or give me death" is a fine thought that must remain in the foundation of our government. But choosing death in an airplane was not in our founder's foresight. If you don't want to deal with TSA, don't fly. If you fly and have honest complaints (not gripes), report them.
Leon Mingo: TSA has offered taxpayers and fliers no proof that PreCheck is effective, much less cost-effective. TSA has offered taxpayers and fliers no proof that the criteria needed for PreCheck eligibility (e.g., paying an $85 fee or being in a frequent flier program) correlate to one's participation in a terrorist plot. TSA created PreCheck to shut up fliers who complain about naked body scanners and other TSA abuses — not because it is a "risk-based" and "intelligence-driven" program.
Fisher1949: The media has been pandering to TSA, repeating its propaganda and excusing the agency despite repeated incidents of theft, screeners smuggling drugs and guns, over a hundred criminal arrests and the exposure of over a dozen pedophile TSA screeners in the last two years. Providing an exemption based on frequent flier status on a private sector airline has to be illegal. This is no different from allowing people who buy a Volt or belong to AAA to ignore the speed limit.
