What If The TSA Isn’t The Answer?
We’re back with our second live episode! Eric Mayson and Chance York join us to talk about the Transportation Security Administration. First, Mayson tells a story about flying without an ID, and Spencer needs help with his pants. Then, Chance shares some insights from cousin Malik, and Ryan shows us the TSA’s Instagram feed.
Hot Topics: Bomb Water, TSA, Bags of Dicks, Stanford Prison Experiment, Security Theater, Follow us on Instagram Bro, Flying While Intoxicated, Don’t Bring _____, ______, or ______ Through Security.
Why the TSA?
Congress created the Transportation Security Administration on November 19, 2001, in direct response to the 9/11 attacks. In less than two months, they hired 55,000 employees. They were immediately responsible for aviation security at 450 U.S. airports. They have an annual budget of roughly $7.6 billion.
Why not?
First of all, the TSA is wildly ineffective. A 2015 investigation revealed that agents failed to detect banned items 95% of the time. According to the head of security for El Al, Israel’s national airline “This is not an airline security system. This is a system for bothering people”.
Secondly, they make travel much more expensive. The TSA collects a “September 11 fee” from each airfare. These fees total almost two billion dollars each year.
Lastly, they steal from airline passengers. More than 500 TSA agents have been fired or suspended for stealing from passenger luggage since the agency’s creation.
Are there other options?
Before 9/11, each airport was responsible for its own security. While we probably can’t go back to that model, there may still be some other options. Some have suggested we follow the Israeli airport security model. The model focuses more on profiling and passenger screening. Each passenger is questioned by highly trained agents before they reach the check-in counter. While this model may be more effective, it can also take much longer. Some interviews can take up to an hour.
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