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[dissertordessert]

I haven't been to an airport in years.

In the event that I am invited to interviews where it would take too long to drive, flying is really the only option.

However, if you've been following the news, then you know that TSA is introducing some very intrusive measures to protect us from 'terrorism.' This includes full body patdowns including touching of the genitals, as well as x ray scans.

The pilots and flight crews are protesting for health reasons. Many travelers are starting to become very upset as well.

Are you willing to be searched and/or x rayed just to travel? I love my country and there is no reason for any airline to suspect me.

This seems insulting to me. Yet, if I submit, my ability to travel is significantly restricted. What is your decision on flying?

[scampster]

This seems insulting to me. Yet, if I submit, my ability to travel is significantly restricted. What is your decision on flying?

I live 3000 miles from my family. I have no choice.

Also, if you haven't been to an airport in years you really have no clue what it is like now, besides hyped up media reports. I fly frequently (every month or two) and I walk through that metal detector thing without my shoes on and move on. Every once in a while, I get patted down and only in Europe did they ever pat my down in an uncomfortable way.

[ahsonek]

I fly 6-8 times a year for personal and professional reasons.

In a normal post 9-11 flight - as long as you think carefully before you pack (i.e laptop handy, bag of liquids handy, shoes that you can kick off) and as long as you look professional and confident, then getting through security should not be an issue.  Yes, depending upon the airport and the time you leave, there may be a line - a long line to go through, but the process is painless.

I have not been through the new scanners however - and I am a bit concerned about the radiation, and also the alleged violations where scans of people's bodies were posted on the internet - something that the TSA says is impossible.  Yeah, right.

However, after 9-11, for about 2 years - I was the person who got pulled out of line and stripped search - someone with my name must have been on a list.  There were a few times when I almost didn't get on the plane due to "my mouth".  ANd, there was one hellious flight when spouse and kids made it through security and I almost didn't.  It was a bit frightening however, when they pulled me over, I handed over my back pack to spouse who then proceeded to put it on the belt and no one pulled it off for an inspection.....  Hello, the "suspected terrorist just handed the bag to another person - who btw does not have the same last name"..... Don't you think that both of us should have been hauled off?  So either they saw the violation and ignored it (bad) or some dim bulb realized that the probability of me being a terrorist was low (really bad policy here), or someone made the executive decision that if they pulled both of us out, that would mean 3 unaccompanied minors past security - one in diapers.  Perhaps they figured life was easier to let the bag through.

And, there was the time that I was traveling and my wallet was stolen - no ID. The ID verification was a joke - the supposedly secret "only I would know" questions were 1) available to anyone on the internet who using my name could look up and 2) referred to events/things that happened 10-15 years ago.  For example, it has been more than 20 years since I alone have owned a car (rest were/are joint with spouse).  No, Mr. TSA man, I really can't remember the license plate from the car I owned when I was an undergrad.  How about you mosey on over to google maps and ask me the color of my neighbor's house.

On a personal note - I like the fact that only ticketed passengers are allowed past security - it is nice to disembark without the entire family blocking the tube and not allowing passengers out so that they can see grandma 100 feet earlier.  But, are we really preventing possible terrorists and other nut jobs from getting on a plane?  No.  That, I am convinced of.

And, for the OP - take a look at Amtrak - you might be surprised.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

My wife went through the backscatter machine last week, described the experience as "humiliating" and "upsetting", won't talk about it further, and screams at me to shut off the radio or TV whenever a news story about it comes on.  And that's just the backscatter machine, not the intimate patdown. - DvF

[marginalia]

In case of interviews, I will have to fly, but am having a very hard time thinking about the new TSA procedures. I am looking into Amtrak.

[ellaminnow]

I have to fly (about 2-3 times/year) to attend conferences and to visit family. I hate hate hate the security process - even more than going to the dentist.  At least at the dentist there is some verifiable preventative action happening there. 

[zharkov]

To be blunt, if someone told me they wouldn't fly to go to an interview, I'd take them for a flake.

[helpful]

Are backscatter machines the same as those new full body scan machines?

It seems to me that the TSA is only instituting new procedures after some doofus has tried a tactic (eg. underpants bombs, so we look for underpants bombs; shoe bomber so we ask you to take off your shoes). Why can't they do predictive security and institute those procedures?

[southerntransplant]

Our local airport in Swelterville has the most thorough TSA personnel of any airport I've been in - likely because traffic is light and there's lots of time to be thorough. However, I don't think they have a backscatter machine...

I am _not_ looking forward to flying out of there next month.

[fleabite]

… only in Europe did they ever pat my down in an uncomfortable way.

Envisioning scampster as a downy but ruffled duckling :)

[msmicrobe]

I am not looking forward to flying the next time I need to. I have no plans at present but I find the new system intrusive and unnecessary. And I believe it is mostly for show. Too many people, in my opinion, have been willing to give up their personal privacy and liberty in exchange for the pretense of security. I'd rather have less intrusive screening even at somewhat greater personal risk. And I have very little faith that any of these new procedures really improve safety. What we see in the news is stories of passengers taking action against the fruity flakes who are off their medications, delusional, or unbalanced. I think having the cockpit door locked makes sense, but taking off our shoes does not.

It seems to me that the TSA is only instituting new procedures after some doofus has tried a tactic (eg. underpants bombs, so we look for underpants bombs; shoe bomber so we ask you to take off your shoes). Why can't they do predictive security and institute those procedures?

Yup. And I dread the doofus who uses an internal body cavity to smuggle the goods on board.
I suppose at least then the TSA will help ensure everyone gets a regular pelvic exam and colonoscopy. I wonder if the costs will be covered by insurance...

[totoro]

When I first came to the US in 1990 I remember being shocked by the low level of security at airports. And now it is the opposite. Though I was last in the US in 2007. Here in Australia things seem pretty reasonable and efficient. Long lines I remember recently were in Israel and Copenhagen to pass security and in Bangkok at the passport check. Thailand now allows Chinese and Indians to get a visa on arrival (which was good for my wife a PRC citizen) but seems to spend ages interrogating Indians on the way in and out. I stood in line forever but when I got to the guy it was all over in 5 seconds each time more or less (I'm an Australian citizen). In Israel we were standing in one line and then suddenly they decided to move us to another line somewhere else (and reverse the order of the queue in the process - luckily we were in the middle). But actually, we got through fairly fast I think.

[stanwyck]

My wife went through the backscatter machine last week, described the experience as "humiliating" and "upsetting", won't talk about it further, and screams at me to shut off the radio or TV whenever a news story about it comes on.  And that's just the backscatter machine, not the intimate patdown. - DvF

I'm curious about this. I've been through one recently, and it was no big deal, but then again, I've been subjected to some very intensive security procedures while working in S. Asia, so I have a pretty skewed sense of "non-invasive."  I felt kind of stupid standing w/my hands over my head, but otherwise, it didn't feel any different than the regular detectors.  So, I'm wondering if it was the machine itself, or the TSA agents, that humiliated her (I'd have to bet on the agents?).

Ask me about the time I visited the Taj Mahal during a week when multiple terrorist threats had been made against it, and they'd picked up a woman carrying liquid explosives in her bra.  I had to prove my chest was real (but the Taj Mahal was worth it).

[prof_smartypants]

My wife went through the backscatter machine last week, described the experience as "humiliating" and "upsetting", won't talk about it further, and screams at me to shut off the radio or TV whenever a news story about it comes on.  And that's just the backscatter machine, not the intimate patdown. - DvF

I'm curious about this. I've been through one recently, and it was no big deal, but then again, I've been subjected to some very intensive security procedures while working in S. Asia, so I have a pretty skewed sense of "non-invasive."  I felt kind of stupid standing w/my hands over my head, but otherwise, it didn't feel any different than the regular detectors.  So, I'm wondering if it was the machine itself, or the TSA agents, that humiliated her (I'd have to bet on the agents?).

Ask me about the time I visited the Taj Mahal during a week when multiple terrorist threats had been made against it, and they'd picked up a woman carrying liquid explosives in her bra.  I had to prove my chest was real (but the Taj Mahal was worth it).

The "backscatter" is the full body scan thingy, right? I went through this the last time I flew, and honestly, found it no more humiliating than the metal detector (which is, not at all). You put your hands over your head and stand still for like 2 seconds, then fetch your luggage and move on. 

I seriously don't understand all the hoopla over this stuff (except for the part where it actually does no good and costs billions of taxpayer dollars - I get that argument). What do people think is going on? TSA agents standing around ogling blurry, blue images of people after work? The federal government cataloguing airline passengers by pelvis width?

[daniel_von_flanagan]

Are backscatter machines the same as those new full body scan machines?

There are two kinds of new machines, backscatter and millimeter wave machines.  Both give fairly detailed anatomical pictures, but the backscatter is only 2-D, the millimeter wave 3-D.  Unlike a metal detector, where you just walk through, in these new machines you have to take a special pose for 15 seconds or more.

The pictures are apparently quite detailed; the samples the TSA shows in their publicity are greatly de-resed (fully detailed ones have been leaked, and are pretty graphic).

Neither would have caught the underwear bomber or the shoe bomber.  Israel decided long ago that these machines were useless for airport security; on the other hand, the political heads of Israel's security services were not connected financially to the machines' manufacturers.  Here in the US, Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff pushed hard for these machines both while in office and after he left, and coincidentally works for the company that makes one of them.

stanwyck: I don't know the details of my wife's experience, as she won't talk about it.  I'm guessing the agents were somehow unprofessional. - DvF