The future of air travel

I don’t have a problem with being interviewed before flying commercially. I do have a problem with searching through my stuff, especially when it including the clothes I’m wearing. That’s why I think it’s possible, but not likely, for these efforts to bear palatable fruit:

In the U.S., small teams of TSA screeners walk around Logan and Dulles, among others, trying to find people who look nervous. The program — dubbed Screening Passengers by Observation Technique, or SPOT — was first used by state police at Logan.

They consulted with psychiatrists to develop a behavioral profile. In addition to obvious things like someone sweating excessively on a cool day, the teams look for people whose facial expressions are deemed to be hiding an emotion. The teams haven’t caught any terrorists though they have detained several people with outstanding criminal warrants, TSA spokeswoman Peppin says.

The agency wants to expand the program and replace contractors who collect identification at airport checkpoints with staff trained in interrogation and behavior identification, Peppin says.

`Conversation With Congress’

“It may be something that we roll out initially in small airports,” she says. “Any kind of total transition would require a larger conversation with Congress and our airline partners.”

The reason I think it’s unlikely to be acceptable is because of their underlying attitude:

There may be no better time to push for tougher measures, Loy says. He contrasted today’s climate with a 1759 comment by Benjamin Franklin, who said those who would give up liberty for “a little temporary safety” deserve neither.

“He wasn’t getting on airplanes,” Loy says.

That statement hightlights they don’t fully understand the problem. The problem isn’t just that existing airport/airplane security is a joke, the problem includes that there are certain inalienable rights being infringed.

Share

2 thoughts on “The future of air travel

  1. Right– that we have plastic wrap, computers and jets invalidates the Constitution.
    Heard it a thousand times.

  2. What an ass!

    But, they just might understand the problem. Getting as much power while the getting is good… “There may be no better time to push for tougher measures…”

    Push harder.

Comments are closed.