New York and Los Angeles Airport Scares Highlight TSA’s Failures
Photo Caption: Arriving passengers in the passport control area of New York's Kennedy Airport stay close to the ground after authorities ordered them to get down on the floor in fear of a possible shooter on the loose. Diana Brooks via AP
Skift Take
The U.S. government has had nearly 15 years to figure out how to fund and staff the TSA. It's still failing.
While recently starting a trip to Hong Kong, I witnessed two TSA officers yelling at an elderly Japanese couple.
It was clear that English was not the husband's first language, and he was moving slowly. There wasn't much of a line, and there was no real need for urgency at six in the morning.
However the TSA officer was sharking on him like a Marine Corps Drill Instructor on the yellow footprints at the Recruit Depot at Parris Island. It was out of line.
When it was my turn to go through the detector, I suggested it wasn't appropriate to be yelling at an elderly couple who obviously weren't speaking English well.
The other screener menacingly yelled at me:
"No one's yelling at anyone ... yet."
I grinned it off, knowing there was no winning this argument. I stepped into the lounge, seething at how a tourist was being treated.
