Don't Reform; Abolish.
I sent a feedback email to the US Travel Association, whose president yesterday attended a Senate Committee hearing:
US Travel Association president Roger Dow on November 2nd attended a Senate Committee Hearing, calling for reform of the TSA.
The TSA does not need to be reformed; it needs to be abolished. Private businesses have enormous incentive to keep their customers safe and secure. Customers also demand to be treated with dignity and respect. Businesses which cannot devise a way to keep customers safe without meeting both criteria will do worse than businesses which can. As a result, removing the TSA and putting the responsibility on the airlines will result in the most secure, respectful, and convenient security methods rising to the top. Customers will be happier with their treatment and satisfied with the quality of their security, and as a result the airlines will see more customers.
I avoid flying as much as possible. Being manhandled and treated like a criminal by the TSA is so unpleasant to me that I would rather spend more money and time traveling halfway across the country by car just to avoid passing through a TSA checkpoint to get on an airplane.
The TSA will never be effective. They do not answer to us, the customer. They do not care if we’re unhappy. It’s irrelevant to them if their methods make us averse to flying. We are not the customer, we are the enemy. We’re only potential terrorists or criminals.
Reform will not put more people on airplanes. It will not change the TSA’s mandate, which is strictly to perform security theater to make us feel safer. It will not change their attitude toward us. It will not change the tyrannical demeanor their authority gives them, or the somber air of fear their presence in the airport creates. Push for what will really help your industry: the complete abolition of the TSA.
Posted by wobbles on Nov 03, 2011