Beginning December 22nd, airline travelers can expect to see more random screenings and fewer prohibited items, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials announced last Friday. The agency says its new policy will result in additional screenings of passengers and their bags using a variety of methods selected at random. It will also allow passengers once again to be able to carry small tools and scissors on board aircraft. Officials say the changes are intended to help security screeners detect and defeat more serious threats, such as explosives.

“It is paramount to the security of our aviation system that terrorists not be able to know with certainty what screening procedures they will encounter at airports around the nation,” said Kip Hawley, the head of TSA. “By incorporating unpredictability into our procedures and eliminating low-threat items, we can better focus our efforts on stopping individuals that wish to do us harm.”

Passengers will continue to walk through a metal detector and have their carry-on and checked baggage screened. However, under the new policy, an additional search may also be conducted, such as screening shoes for explosives, “hand-wanding” of passengers, enhanced pat down searches, and inspections of carry-on bags. These searches will be generated at random and are expected to take only about a minute to complete.

Another change, and one that is generating a great deal of controversy, is TSA’s modification of its list of prohibited items. Also beginning December 22nd, scissors with a cutting edge of four inches or less and tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches and pliers smaller than seven inches will be permitted on board aircraft. Scissors longer than four inches and tools such as crowbars, drills, hammers, and saws will continue to be prohibited from carry-on bags. Lighters will remain on the list of items banned from the cabin of aircraft and in checked baggage.

TSA officials say that by spending so much time searching for and confiscating items like scissors, security screeners are unable to focus on more serious threats, such as bombs. With reinforced cockpit doors, undercover air marshals on many flights, and a group of pilots who have been authorized to carry firearms in the cockpit, small tools and scissors are not the threat they once were, experts say.

Some groups, however, disagree with that rationale. The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), which represents federal air marshals, opposes the agency’s decision to allow scissors and other small tools on flights. “These items in the wrong hands can become dangerous instruments that can ultimately threaten both air marshals’ and travelers’ safety,” said Jon Adler, executive vice president of FLEOA.

In addition to instituting more random screenings and modifying its list of banned items, TSA also announced that its 43,000 Transportation Security Screeners have been reclassified as Transportation Security Officers (TSOs). The agency says the new classification is intended to illustrate that TSOs are “more empowered than ever before to use their knowledge and training to detect and defeat terrorists and to focus their attention to areas where the threat is greatest.”

From - FEDagent: Thursday, December 8, 2005

Will this make you feel more safe or less safe while flying?