Right after 9/11, they instituted the second check, at the boarding gate, just before pax got aboard the flight.
On a BWI to TPA flight, they pulled 17 of out of line for the “Secondary Screening.” 17 middle-age White males.
I asked the TSA leader why us. I got the standard “the computer selected you” answer.
I pressed him, and he asked “You military?” I answered, “Two tours ‘Nam.”
He said, “Desert Storm for me. The real answer? You guys don’t bitch.”
“The real answer? You guys don’t bitch.”
We need people monitoring the screening to collect data on the demographics of who gets pulled for enhanced screening and what proportion is young females, middle aged white males, etc. When my pilot husband and I flew on airline employee discount tickets we were always pulled and he traveled in uniform. What a joke.
Do you remember when "the computer" selected former Vice President Al Gore, and the TSA agents blindly pulled him out of line for the secondary screening?
If THAT didn't show what was wrong with the system, then nothing will.
-PJ
Every single time we fly we get ‘selected’ for the extra security check. Hubby did 2 tours in Nam, thx for explaining it. The only problem for them is I did not serve so I bitch rudely and loudly. Hubby just stands back and smiles lol