November 15 marked the start of a test run by TSA of providing military personnel expedited screening at airport checkpoints at Monterey Regional Airport in California, with plans to expand the testing to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport in the coming months.
The tests, which will not yield faster check-in processes immediately, are being administered to determine if TSA's technology is compatible with military personnel's Common Access Cards in order to provided efficient, streamlined check-in in the future.
If the program proves to be successful through testing, it will likely be implemented in airports with large quantities of military men and women travelers. The program is part of Pre-Check which recently began trials.
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Showing posts with label transportation security administration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transportation security administration. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
What Happens to the Items TSA Confiscates at Security Checkpoints?
Perhaps one of the greatest curiosities of the airport experience is what actually happens to the items many travelers are forced to surrender (unless said traveler is able to sacrifice the time necessary to take the item(s) all the way back to his or her car- if indeed the traveler drove a personal vehicle to the airport and willingly became subject to the absurd parking fees- or, perhaps the traveler might opt to mail back the item to their home from the airport) at airport security?
I have drawn on an article from msnbc for the figures below.
"Since 9/11, the TSA has detected approximately 50 million prohibited items, including 4,600 firearms, during airport checkpoint screening." It is not all that surprising that "hazardous materials are disposed of, and dangerous or illegal items such as guns and explosives are turned over to law enforcement," but what about everyday items?
In the event that they are not saved by the passenger in one of the options listed above and surrendered, as is most often the case, there are a couple of different scenarios that might play out. Typically, the items end up being donated to state governments “to be auctioned off or sold as revenue. TSA in no way profits from surrendered or lost items at the checkpoint.”
Though TSA might not profit from the sale of these goods when they are not donated, there are certainly states that do make a considerable profit. The Pennsylvania Department of General Services for example receives hoards of excess items from New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports among others. The items are sorted and stored at a warehouse and then generally auctioned off in lots online and have generated around $700,000 for the state since 2004 (about $100,000 a year ).
Here is the link for the original article: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/24/8470150-what-happens-to-items-left-at-security-checkpoints
I have drawn on an article from msnbc for the figures below.
"Since 9/11, the TSA has detected approximately 50 million prohibited items, including 4,600 firearms, during airport checkpoint screening." It is not all that surprising that "hazardous materials are disposed of, and dangerous or illegal items such as guns and explosives are turned over to law enforcement," but what about everyday items?
In the event that they are not saved by the passenger in one of the options listed above and surrendered, as is most often the case, there are a couple of different scenarios that might play out. Typically, the items end up being donated to state governments “to be auctioned off or sold as revenue. TSA in no way profits from surrendered or lost items at the checkpoint.”
Though TSA might not profit from the sale of these goods when they are not donated, there are certainly states that do make a considerable profit. The Pennsylvania Department of General Services for example receives hoards of excess items from New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports among others. The items are sorted and stored at a warehouse and then generally auctioned off in lots online and have generated around $700,000 for the state since 2004 (about $100,000 a year ).
Here is the link for the original article: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/24/8470150-what-happens-to-items-left-at-security-checkpoints
Monday, October 24, 2011
Loaded Gun Falls Out of Checked Luggage at LAX
A loaded handgun fell out of a checked bag being loaded onto an airliner for an Alaska Airlines flight at Los Angeles International Airport.
The TSA claims (rightly, though pretty non-sensibily) that identifying firearms in checked bags is not the agency's job. I suppose this makes a little sense, since it would be difficult to use the firearm from your seat when the bag is stowed elsewhere in the plane... but come on! There are a lot of "what ifs" that could be implanted into this scenario that are worrisome. TSA says the bag passed explosives screening. Maybe it's time for an equipment update?
The passenger was questioned and then later allowed to board his flight.
The TSA claims (rightly, though pretty non-sensibily) that identifying firearms in checked bags is not the agency's job. I suppose this makes a little sense, since it would be difficult to use the firearm from your seat when the bag is stowed elsewhere in the plane... but come on! There are a lot of "what ifs" that could be implanted into this scenario that are worrisome. TSA says the bag passed explosives screening. Maybe it's time for an equipment update?
The passenger was questioned and then later allowed to board his flight.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
TSA to Begin Limited Trials of its "Trusted Traveler" Program Today
"TSA PreCheck" will be unveiled for select passengers- those departing Atlanta and Detroit as Delta passengers and travelers departing from Miami and Dallas on American Airlines- starting today. According to CNN, in addition to those passengers, the "program will be open to participants in Custom and Border Protection's Trusted Traveler programs, including Global Entry, SENTRI, and NEXUS" (at those same airports). The program is only available to U.S. citizens and is completely voluntary.
The program will not save everyone in it from the possibility of being randomly screened in order to maintain a sense of unpredictability in the security process (and will not eliminate other forms of airport security such as "intelligence gathering and analysis, explosive-detection canine teams, federal air marshals, closed-circuit television monitoring and behavior detection officers"), but should still significantly shorten security-line wait times.
The program is slated to expand in July 2012 to include United, Southwest, JetBlue, US Airways, Alaska Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines (and will include additional U.S. airports, once they are operational).
Here is the full article from CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/04/travel/trusted-traveler-program/index.html?hpt=tr_c2
The program will not save everyone in it from the possibility of being randomly screened in order to maintain a sense of unpredictability in the security process (and will not eliminate other forms of airport security such as "intelligence gathering and analysis, explosive-detection canine teams, federal air marshals, closed-circuit television monitoring and behavior detection officers"), but should still significantly shorten security-line wait times.
The program is slated to expand in July 2012 to include United, Southwest, JetBlue, US Airways, Alaska Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines (and will include additional U.S. airports, once they are operational).
Here is the full article from CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/04/travel/trusted-traveler-program/index.html?hpt=tr_c2
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