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IP: Positive TSA experience
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 10:36:24 -0400
From: Paul Saffo <psaffo () iftf org> To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu> Dave- I had my first encounter with a TSA (US govt Transportation Security Agency) security checkpoint at JFK airport last friday. And I was very, very impressed. The right mix of professional, respectful and efficiently thorough. They smiled. They greeted passengers. They exuded a relaxed confidence and control. Utterly different from the minimum wage rent-a-clowns they are replacing. And --this is the big surprise-- the experience was also better than the norm at overseas airports such as Heathrow, Frankfurt or Hong Kong. The difference is customer service. If banks ran the way airport security is traditionally run, every depositor would be treated as a potential bank-robber when they walked in the door. TSA has reversed this attitude -- their posture seems to be to treat the flying public as their customers. They weren't wary or authoritarian; they were welcoming. This has never been the case with Argenbreit and their ilk, but frankly, it has also never been the case overseas where a para-military/tough cop attitude prevails, even at great airports like Frankfurt. For the first time in two decades (and nearly two million miles) of flying, I left the TSA security area feeling like a citizen and not a suspect. And none of this customer-friendliness seems to come at a cost of thoroughness. To the contrary, it appears to further basic security goals. For example, when they ask a passenger to remove their shoes, they take the passenger to a roped-off area that has chairs and carpet. After the now-sitting passenger removes their shoes, the screener then also wands their extended foot and lower leg to determine if there is anything metallic hidden under their socks. Admittedly, the sight has an Orwellian cast (imagine a shoe store in "1984"), but if I have to remove my shoes, I'd still prefer this to hopping around in stocking feet on a concrete floor in the middle of a mass of traveling humanity. Now, this is merely a sample of one, but if my experience with JFK security is typical, TSA's next challenge will be juggling visits by airport delegations from around the world, eager to see what security done right looks like. And, I should add, more than a few police departments could learn a lesson or two from the TSA as well. The TSA url is: http://www.tsa.dot.gov/ -p ---------------------------------------- The nature of reality is this: It is hidden, and it is hidden, and it is hidden." - Rumi Paul Saffo Institute For The Future 2744 Sand Hill Rd. Menlo Park, CA 94025 v: 650-854-6322 f:650-854-7850 Direct: 650-233-9521 psaffo () iftf org www.saffo.com www.iftf.org
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- IP: Positive TSA experience David Farber (Jul 17)