Stupid TSA!

[ScottM]

Yesterday I started my journey home from Ireland at 5am. Because I had been fly Luftahnsa the past 16 days it was cheapest to stay on them for the flight home. That meant getting from Dublin to Frankfort and then catching a flight to Chicago. Not a normal route for Luftahnsa, this gave me an 8 hour layover in Frankfurt.

The computers for Luftahnsa were down when I got to the airport and it took forever to get a boarding pass. But part of the check process apparently is to scan my passport and get permission from the DHS/TSA for me to reenter the US. Well apparently that did not happen.

8 hours later when I went to get on board my flight to Chicago they needed to scan my passport, no big deal, happens all the time. Problem this time was that the DHS servers were down. Me and 45 other were initially denied boarding. The rest of the airplane passenger were on board but the the plane could not leave as their information could also not be transmitted to DHS. This affect not jsut my flight but a whole bunch of others.

Long story short the US Embassy in Germany had to get involved to look for ways to allow travel when the TSA computers were down. Seems that there is no manual back up plan. Good thinking guys PPfffttttt!!!

Were were delayed by almost 3 hours. Got in after 10pm. Anyone with connection missed their flight and had to be put up at hotels by the airlines.

[/rant]

 

[sba55]

Funny that a citizen of a country needs to get permission to re-enter said country. And of course there's no back-up plan. What do you expect from a bunch of "I bought my CS degree online" IT people....

 

[mikea]

Funny that a citizen of a country needs to get permission to re-enter said country. And of course there's no back-up plan. What do you expect from a bunch of "I bought my CS degree online" IT people....

Coorection: "I program in HTML and got my MCSE by reading the questions and answers online" IT people...

 

[mikea]

Funny that a citizen of a country needs to get permission to re-enter said country. And of course there's no back-up plan. What do you expect from a bunch of "I bought my CS degree online" IT people....

Coorection: "I program in HTML and got my MCSE by reading the questions and answers online" IT people...who foudn it was harder to get a job these days unless you wnet to work for the government.

Actually, this is probably, "We spend $5 million of our $12 million contract to get the contract and then outsource it overseas" big honkin' consulting firm people.

Jesse would have done it and made it work for $1 Million.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Lufthansa by themselves aren't the greatest. My wife and I got to put up with them when they canceled some flights to/from India a few months back. They rebooked us on another India flight but didn't change the connections. On the return, they originally had us arriving a day after the connecting flight left. We only caught it because I was "flying on United" on miles (United code shared with Lufthansa as aprt of the star alliance). United told us about the change before the trip and were fast and easy about fixing it. Lufthansa- didn't tell anyone and were difficult about fixing it.

Return trip- plane arrived late due to headwinds and it took 6 hours standing in line to get a new connection. They were telling us inbound how they were working on the problem and had connections ready for us. It took forever to rebook each passenger!

Combine Lufthansa and the TSA- it's a small miracle you aren't Germany's newest permanant resident!

 

[TangoWhiskey]

Jesse would have done it and made it work for $1 Million.

I imagine that was very frustrating, Scott. Make sure you write your congress-critters and tell them your story--they don't always hear about these things if we don't tell them.

About Mike's quote above. He's right! And I'll make sure I remember that on my next $12M Federal project award! God bless subcontractors!

 

[kevin47881]

Scott -
Isn't this thread title somewhat redundant?

 

[ScottM]

Scott -
Isn't this thread title somewhat redundant?

True..

 

[bbchien]

Yesterday I started my journey home from Ireland at 5am. Because I had been fly Luftahnsa the past 16 days it was cheapest to stay on them for the flight home. That meant getting from Dublin to Frankfort and then catching a flight to Chicago. Not a normal route for Luftahnsa, this gave me an 8 hour layover in Frankfurt.

The computers for Luftahnsa were down when I got to the airport and it took forever to get a boarding pass. But part of the check process apparently is to scan my passport and get permission from the DHS/TSA for me to reenter the US. Well apparently that did not happen.

8 hours later when I went to get on board my flight to Chicago they needed to scan my passport, no big deal, happens all the time. Problem this time was that the DHS servers were down. Me and 45 other were initially denied boarding. The rest of the airplane passenger were on board but the the plane could not leave as their information could also not be transmitted to DHS. This affect not jsut my flight but a whole bunch of others.

Long story short the US Embassy in Germany had to get involved to look for ways to allow travel when the TSA computers were down. Seems that there is no manual back up plan. Good thinking guys PPfffttttt!!!

Were were delayed by almost 3 hours. Got in after 10pm. Anyone with connection missed their flight and had to be put up at hotels by the airlines.

[/rant]

Yah. Business is going to have weigh in here. TSA is disproportionately disadvantaging American business....

 

[ScottM]

Yah. Business is going to have weigh in here. TSA is disproportionately disadvantaging American business....

Not jsut American business. The German company Luftahnsa had to pay to put up several hundred people in hotels last night. That is an impact to theirs as well as any American airline that was affected. This will get the whole biz world annoyed at TSA.

 

[mikea]

Lufthansa didn't play it right. The usual TSA SNAFU would have been to refuse at the last minute to let the jet enter American airspace so it had to divert to Goose Bay or back to Frankfort.

 

[ScottM]

Lufthansa didn't play it right. The usual TSA SNAFU would have been to refuse at the last minute to let the jet enter American airspace so it had to divert to Goose Bay or back to Frankfort.

They changed it to avoid those situations. Now you need clearance to take off. Just think of how these snafus will be affecting GA travel back into the US.

 

[wsuffa]

They changed it to avoid those situations. Now you need clearance to take off. Just think of how these snafus will be affecting GA travel back into the US.

BuBuBut we're "safer" because of this. (NOT!)

Yep, that's part of "Secure Flight" and the GA equivalent (LASP). You now need government permission to fly. It's worse for international.

THe bureaucrats dont' care. They're more afraid that Congressman Blowhard will blame them if something every happens. After all, we Americans apparently aren't smart enough to excercise personal judgement.

Don't EVEN get me started about my trip back through Gatwick last weekend.

 

[sba55]

Not jsut American business. The German company Luftahnsa had to pay to put up several hundred people in hotels last night. That is an impact to theirs as well as any American airline that was affected. This will get the whole biz world annoyed at TSA.

Well, that was nice of them. I doubt they're liable for circumstances out of their control like this.

 

[Ghery]

Makes me glad that there are no connections to make to get back into the US from London in August. We'll need a connection in SFO to get to SEA, that will be UA's problem.

Stupid TSA is redundant. Good thing I wasn't elected President. Executive order #1 - Shut down TSA.

 

[Aztec Driver]

Stupid TSA is redundant. Good thing I wasn't elected President. Executive order #1 - Shut down TSA.

Redundant is right. Since when do we have to undergo a second surprise screening as we are boarding the aircraft? They lined up with their rubber gloves on just before the jetway, and picked out certain, obviously terrorist looking people, to hand inspect their carry-ons. Where in the terminal were people supposed to acquire weapons? I guess at the Al-Queda snack shop across from the coffee express. Snack rolls and hand grenades to go. Strip me down before I enter the terminal, somewhat OK, but do not make me lose my place in line that I worked hard to get. After all, Southwest doesn't have assigned seating.

 

[jmaynard]

do not make me lose my place in line that I worked hard to get. After all, Southwest doesn't have assigned seating.

Now you know why I refuse to fly Southwest.

 

[SCCutler]

Now you know why I refuse to fly Southwest.

...and exactly why, when I (with great reluctance) must fly commercial, if at all possible, it will always be Southwest. I rarely get to make my reservations more than a few days in advance, and by then (especially in a hub like DFW), all the "reserved" seats still available are middle seats, or the "brain-numbers" in the back of the MD80 (between the engines), or the next-to-the-lav seats.

Never an issue with Southwest. Plus, they actually arrive at their destination with reasonable regularity.

---

But... Bo is better anyway!.

 

[gprellwitz]

But... Bo is better anyway!.

Yes! Bo knows flying!

 

[Ted]

But... Bo is better anyway!.

The more I fly GA, the less I want to fly commercial. Whenever I do fly commercial, I'm then reminded about how much I dislike it.

Flying Aztruck Air is much better.

 

[jmaynard]

The more I fly GA, the less I want to fly commercial. Whenever I do fly commercial, I'm then reminded about how much I dislike it.

Amen. Unfortunately, my opportunities to fly GA for work are much fewer than yours, or Spike's, or those of folks who have instrument ratings.

Stupid medical issues.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Amen. Unfortunately, my opportunities to fly GA for work are much fewer than yours, or Spike's, or those of folks who have instrument ratings.

Hmmm. Perhaps there is a way to trade in the Tron costume for a "Scud Runner" costume.

 

[Ghery]

The more I fly GA, the less I want to fly commercial. Whenever I do fly commercial, I'm then reminded about how much I dislike it.

Flying Aztruck Air is much better.

Yeah, but my company travel policy prohibits GA, with the exception of our own shuttles. And a C-182 wouldn't get me to my destinations this year, anyway. Sydney in February, Austin in August and Lyon in September. Well, maybe Austin, but the club would really be annoyed if I wook the 182 for a week and parked it. Plus, time. And that darned policy.

But, I hear you. GA would beat commercial for many of my trips.

 

[astanley]

Yeah, but my company travel policy prohibits GA, with the exception of our own shuttles. And a C-182 wouldn't get me to my destinations this year, anyway. Sydney in February, Austin in August and Lyon in September. Well, maybe Austin, but the club would really be annoyed if I wook the 182 for a week and parked it. Plus, time. And that darned policy.

But, I hear you. GA would beat commercial for many of my trips.

On the car ride back with Teller, I decided (mentally) that I need to get a job that is GA friendly. Either my own consulting business (I'm probably a bit green), or work for a GA friendly company. I will never be affluent enough to afford a international-capable GA plane, but why should I continue to slog through TSA BS, upgrade BS, so on and so forth, when I could fly my own plane?

Why, and how, it has taken me so long to figure this out is beyond me.

Cheers,

-Andrew

 

[Ted]

On the car ride back with Teller, I decided (mentally) that I need to get a job that is GA friendly. Either my own consulting business (I'm probably a bit green), or work for a GA friendly company. I will never be affluent enough to afford a international-capable GA plane, but why should I continue to slog through TSA BS, upgrade BS, so on and so forth, when I could fly my own plane?

Why, and how, it has taken me so long to figure this out is beyond me.

The more of us that fly GA for work means the more that GA gets used. The more that GA gets used, the better off we all are. Doubly so when we use GA for purposes that demonstrate exactly what we all say about it being a tool - such as for work and rescue flights.

 

[wsuffa]

On the car ride back with Teller, I decided (mentally) that I need to get a job that is GA friendly. Either my own consulting business (I'm probably a bit green), or work for a GA friendly company. I will never be affluent enough to afford a international-capable GA plane, but why should I continue to slog through TSA BS, upgrade BS, so on and so forth, when I could fly my own plane?

Why, and how, it has taken me so long to figure this out is beyond me.

Cheers,

-Andrew

Now you know how/why I amassed 250 hours a year a couple of years (and still did 125,000 commercially, sigh).

Don't worry, the TSA has it figured out. By the time you are able to do that the LASP will be the (last) GASP for us.

By the way, the latest B.S. is that shoes may NOT go in bins, they must go by themselves on the belt. At IAD this morning this nonesense added significant time to how long it takes to go through the checkpoint. The day they started it at DCA, the woman ahead of me had her bin fulll of jewelry, etc, dumped over by the shoes on the belt behind her bin. And the person behind me had her sandel get stuck in the machine.

No common sense. None.

 

[voipguy]

Just completed the Security Briefing at ISP required to gain ramp access without escort.

Airport office was asked many questions, provided few answers. Nothing makes any sense.

Q: "Does a transient pilot need an escort?"
A: "No"

Logical conclusion: Terrorists will be based at ISP and be deterred because they have to get badges.

Q: "Do renters need an escort"
A: "Yes, until they are at the aircraft, where they may operate near it, perform pre-flight, etc. until departure"

Logical conclusion: Renter pilots with bad intentions will be deterred by the threat of the desk clerk watching over them until they are left at their rental airplane.

Q: "Will my ISP badge be good at any other airports for unescorted access"?
A: "No, but see 'transient pilot' answer above"

Logical Conclusion: A pilot vetted at his home field will only be deterred from doing bad things at the home field.


What a load of bull.....

 

[IdaFlyer]

Just completed the Security Briefing at ISP required to gain ramp access without escort.

Airport office was asked many questions, provided few answers. Nothing makes any sense.

Q: "Does a transient pilot need an escort?"
A: "No"

Logical conclusion: Terrorists will be based at ISP and be deterred because they have to get badges.

Q: "Do renters need an escort"
A: "Yes, until they are at the aircraft, where they may operate near it, perform pre-flight, etc. until departure"

Logical conclusion: Renter pilots with bad intentions will be deterred by the threat of the desk clerk watching over them until they are left at their rental airplane.

Q: "Will my ISP badge be good at any other airports for unescorted access"?
A: "No, but see 'transient pilot' answer above"

Logical Conclusion: A pilot vetted at his home field will only be deterred from doing bad things at the home field.


What a load of bull.....

Yes, it is a bunch of bull. We as pilots are trusted to fly our airplanes in a safe manner in accordance with the FARs, but aren't trusted to walk around on the ramp by ourselves? I guarantee you, any pilot can do a lot more damage once airborne than he can while on foot...

One of the prerequisites of working for the TSA must be an IQ of no higher than 100.

 

[astanley]

Now you know how/why I amassed 250 hours a year a couple of years (and still did 125,000 commercially, sigh).

Don't worry, the TSA has it figured out. By the time you are able to do that the LASP will be the (last) GASP for us.

I'd still do a bulk of travel on airlines, but the domestic stuff I could cut out. I'm wasting ~6 hours a trip, easy, flying airlines domestically.

By the way, the latest B.S. is that shoes may NOT go in bins, they must go by themselves on the belt. At IAD this morning this nonesense added significant time to how long it takes to go through the checkpoint. The day they started it at DCA, the woman ahead of me had her bin fulll of jewelry, etc, dumped over by the shoes on the belt behind her bin. And the person behind me had her sandel get stuck in the machine.

No common sense. None.

I got the shoes thing outbound at RIC, but not here at T3 (FC line) at ORD just an hour ago. Makes no bleeping sense. Maybe it's only the DC region airports (RIC is hardly DC region... but closer to DC than ORD)

Cheers,

-Andrew

 

[Steve]

Recent experiences involving Terrorist Support Activities at Part 139 airports only reinforce my personal belief that aid and comfort is being provided to the enemy domestically.

Just completed the Security Briefing at ISP required to gain ramp access without escort.

Airport office was asked many questions, provided few answers. Nothing makes any sense.

Q: "Does a transient pilot need an escort?"
A: "No"

Logical conclusion: Terrorists will be based at ISP and be deterred because they have to get badges.

Q: "Do renters need an escort"
A: "Yes, until they are at the aircraft, where they may operate near it, perform pre-flight, etc. until departure"

Logical conclusion: Renter pilots with bad intentions will be deterred by the threat of the desk clerk watching over them until they are left at their rental airplane.

Q: "Will my ISP badge be good at any other airports for unescorted access"?
A: "No, but see 'transient pilot' answer above"

Logical Conclusion: A pilot vetted at his home field will only be deterred from doing bad things at the home field.


What a load of bull.....

 

[AuntPeggy]

Our voices have not gone unheard. How many times have we said something like, "Small aircraft are not as dangerous as a truck filled with fertilizer."

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0985.pdf

Numerous incidents around the world have highlighted the vulnerability of commercial vehicles to terrorist acts. Commercial vehicles include over 1 million highly diverse truck and intercity bus firms.

GAO is recommending that TSA develop a plan and time frame for completing risk assessments, develop performance measures that assess the effectiveness of federal commercial vehicle security programs, fully define stakeholder roles and responsibilities, and assess its coordination efforts. DHS concurred with our recommendations.