Recently the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted a tweet asking users on X (formerly Twitter) for opinions on ways to make air travel easier.
“Tell me how we can Make Traveling with Family Great Again!
“There’s no better place to start a family than the USA so I want to make it easier for you to travel with your kids.
“Here’s your chance to tell me, your Transportation Secretary, what I can do to make travel easier for your family. Send me your best ideas!”
With over 13,000 responses to his tweet, the majority of them wanted to see Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening done away with, claiming the step is unnecessary and invasive, when other technologies exist for easier screening.
Boom Supersonic Founder and CEO Blake Scholl also joined in, agreeing that the TSA screening should be abolished, while keeping other measures in place such as better manifest screening, bag matching, and reinforced flight deck doors.
“Keep reinforced cockpit doors. Keep bag/passenger matching. Keep screening passenger manifests.
“But delete the TSA. Let us just walk onto airplanes like we do busses and trains. It will all be ok.”
Security screening is definitely one of the biggest pain points during the traveling process. Even though there have been some improvements in the scanning technology, not everyone benefits from these advances just yet.
For instance, if you don’t have TSA precheck, you still have to remove your shoes and belts before going through the scanners. Passengers at most airports still have to separate their liquids into separate bins as CT technology is still slowly rolling out across the U.S.
Even with increasing tech, there have been numerous cases of passengers still managing to bypass screening with illegal items. Passengers were also able to sneak onto flights with invalid tickets, skipping through multiple checkpoints undetected.
The current standards are quite a drag, but I wouldn’t want screening done away with entirely, unless an alternative but more convenient and secure process is put in place. If we were to place the same trust in airport passenger security as we do when boarding a bus, the phrase “this is why we can’t have nice things” will surely apply at some point.
Realistically, travel might be safe in 99.999% of the cases, but there will always be that one person willing to take a chance for whatever cause, bringing a weapon on board or even an explosive, taking us right back to the days of hijackings and onboard violence.
It’s clear from the numerous TSA press photos that travelers attempt to bring guns and other weapons onto flights on a regular basis. The TSA is nowhere near perfect when it comes to detection, but unlike a bus or train which can be stopped relatively quickly, being stuck on an airplane with someone wielding a weapon isn’t exactly comforting.
Scholl’s comment, which has some merit, is still a bit out of touch, especially coming from someone who most likely flies private jets when he has to go from point A to B.
Opinions about the current security screening process are very polarizing, but I’d like to hear in the comments what might be a good alternative to make the security aspect of the check in process less stressful.
