tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929098.post7430153528938108307..comments2024-03-23T08:54:02.530-07:00Comments on CRIME, GUNS, AND VIDEOTAPE: If You Loathe Commercial Air Travel, You’re Not Alone…Paul Huebl Crimefile Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07841397705805774698noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929098.post-34113089962452878412008-04-08T15:55:00.000-07:002008-04-08T15:55:00.000-07:00Flying in the USA is scarier than riding a bus or ...Flying in the USA is scarier than riding a bus or hitchhiking.<BR/><BR/>Japan, the UK and France have excellent and efficient airport security, but it's also obvious that they don't hire from the bottom 5% of the workforce. In my opinion, the TSA is a "welfare to work" program..... They have some of the dumbest human beings alive working for them - from the top (Kip Hawley) to the bottom.<BR/><BR/>The last time I returned home from my small home town, I was going through security and realized one of the security screeners was my high school class idiot. He's a nice fellow, but truly dumber than a bag of rocks. When I worked with him as a grocery bagger at a local grocery store, the manager commented that he "couldn't find his way out of a wet paper bag".<BR/><BR/>I've also watched TSA Xray operators standing around talking about how worthless their babydaddys are, how much they partied the last weekend, and other bullsnort while ignoring the screen. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has witness such a debacle. I'm sure if I'd said anything to a supervisor I would've been hauled off in shackles for harassing such a critical government employee.<BR/><BR/>I avoid flying at all costs, and new technology such as GPS and Satellite Radio make road trips a pleasure compared to the miserable experiences I've had with airlines and airports. <BR/><BR/>TSA=Thousands Standing AroundTed L. Nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03897348898466881417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929098.post-17264690640723561092008-04-08T13:00:00.000-07:002008-04-08T13:00:00.000-07:00Paul:I travel weekly and have to run the TSA gaunt...Paul:<BR/><BR/>I travel weekly and have to run the TSA gauntlet two to three times a week. It is getting very old and has always been tedious. So many of the things required of travelers do nothing to improve safety, but simply serve as some sort face-saving step after being embarassed by would-be terrorists bringing such items onboard. Putting a single item of liquid/gel/location of less than 3.4ounces into a quart ziplock bag, removing shoes that don't trigger the magnetometer, all of these things are in place because the TSA was embarrassed, not because of continuing threats. Simply adding to the list of items that TSA employees must look for increases the chances that something is going to get missed as often happens with real knives, etc. <BR/><BR/>To your point of arming pilots and flight attendants and allowing LEOs to carry onboard, that's a great place to start. I would rather have some sort of vetting process whereby frequent fliers would become functionally certified (much more stringently than concealed-carry) at a very level by the currently inept Air Marshal Service. This precludes the need to pay Air Marshalls as you'd have volunteers lining up to take the approved courses to obtain certification to carry a loaded weapon aboard a commercial airliner throughout the U.S.SonOfLibertyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09751293079731295122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929098.post-45951337332319405622008-04-07T23:05:00.000-07:002008-04-07T23:05:00.000-07:00Paul,As a airline pilot for one of our nation's la...Paul,<BR/>As a airline pilot for one of our nation's largest airlines I can tell you that sadly our nation's airlines have gone to the bad. Aviation is indeed safer than it has ever been thanks to the dedicated men and women who fly, maintain, air traffic and control, and those that support them. The business end of airline travel has become a product of human greed and corporate corruption. Those that are running the airlines care less about the product or it's customes. Only to the point of selling tickets. The companies are being run by the bean counters and all they care about it the bottom line and what will put more money into the top managers and share holder's pockets. We've seen management after management run through each airline and personally take what they can get out of it. They leave with their multi-million dollar bonuses and a company that's in worse shape. Customers pay the price in service as the companies are run on the least budget possible. It's all about what's the cheapest way to perate. The employees pay the price in the fact that they subsidise ticket prices and manager's and stock holder's income. The airlines are not being run operationally. They are being run to pay the most dividend to a shareholder. I could rant on and one but this is the core reason airline travel is so poor in this country. When you can fly there cheaper than you can drive your car, there something very wrong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com