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Airport Security for Parents
By Jacob Cohen | July 23, 2008
I’ve recently been following a thread on one of my company’s internal mailing lists about tips and tricks for air travel with small children or infants. One of the major stress points seems to be getting through security.
This is stressful because parents are usually traveling with a whole bunch of extra stuff, and have to somehow get all of this through the security checkpoint one-handed while dealing with an unhappy child. The TSA staff is often inconsistent on what sorts of liquids can be brought through the checkpoint, and the parents are stressed about keeping their kid happy and not irritating all of the people behind them in line by taking forever.
I think a solution to this would be to dedicate at least one, and probably some percentage of all available security gates to serving only people who are traveling with small children (e.g. young enough to need strollers or car seats or other similar bulky items). This would have many advantages.
First, the security checkpoint could be set up to cater to these travelers, with more room to get everything packed down and through the scanner. The TSA agents staffing the station could be trained specifically to the sorts of things parents are usually trying to bring through the checkpoint.
Also, since it would separate parents and children into a new line, it would take a lot of stress off of the parents trying to get through the checkpoint. Everyone behind them in line is in the same situation and would be understanding if they needed to take a little extra time to make it through security. However, since the line is comprised of *only* parents traveling with small children, there would be fewer people in line and the whole process would not take longer.
Topics: General |
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Yes, that would be fine if they had the slightest intention of making things easier. But they haven’t.
July 24th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Ask and you shall receive! TSA has actually implemented this very idea at about 30 airports so far, including Salt lake City, Denver, Atlanta, Boise, Dallas Love Field, San Jose, Orlando and others. These airports have divided up the security lanes so that expert travelers, families and people with special needs, and casual travelers who travel infrequently can have lanes just for people like them. The idea is to reduce stress and help everyone get through easier. Families have more time and experts can go through quickly.
To learn more, go to this page on the TSA website:
http://www.tsa.gov/approach/black_diamond.shtm
July 24th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Of course, there’s not a ton of logic involved with TSA airport security. I think that most of the security measures that travellers find as annoying inconveniences are mostly for show and not particularly effective as security measures per se. Cases in point — having people like Nelson Mandela and members of Congress on the no-fly list. Being forced to remove your shoes. Restricting liquids to closed containers in ziploc bags and in < 3oz amounts. If any liquids are in excess of the amount, it gets confiscated and thrown in a bin with all the other confiscated liquids.
Good thing none of those liquids are actually ever dangerous, since this practice would probably blow up the airport security checkpoint instead of the plane. Not much of a tradeoff.
Also, read an article recently that a commercial airline pilot wrote. TSA confiscated from him his spare set of airline silverware because it had a knife in the kit. This is the kit they give to passengers on the plane…!
It’s a riff on a Machiavellian theme — it’s good to be effective, but far better to appear effective…?
July 24th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Wow. Good info. Thanks Lynn.
August 21st, 2008 at 1:06 pm
No one will probably read this, but here goes anyway:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/08/tsa_follies.html
Bruce Schneier has a lot of posts on his security blog about the (in)effectiveness of the TSA.