Mostly show

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 10:50:19 -0800
From: Simon Higgs <simon () higgs com>
Subject: Re: [IP] Mostly show
X-Sender: simon () higgs com
To: dave () farber net

At 03:34 AM 2/20/2004, you wrote:

> • There’s been a failure to replace incompetent management. BoydForbes 
> says Congress and various Administrations were “well aware of the material 
> weaknesses and failures” of the FAA’s aviation security program prior to 
> September 11. Several governmental studies detailed the shortcomings long 
> before that fateful Tuesday morning.

The TSA have deliberately compounded this problem throughout the lower 
ranks too. I heard one new TSA recruit complaining that their supervisor 
was only 21 and "thinks they know everything". Should this be a problem? It 
really shouldn't be, but the TSA recruiting process gave priority to anyone 
with an airport screening background. Those minimum wage private sector 
screeners that were the original problem were fast-tracked to TSA 
supervisory positions. Those with real-world supervisory experience 
(including non-airport security), were given the entry level positions. So 
a 21 year-old college student with several years of minimum wage screening 
experience could become the supervisor of an out-of-work bank VP with 
non-airport-related security experience. The danger here is that the TSA 
screeners themselves have the potential to be stacked with very young 
(immature) supervisors and middle-aged (mature) screening staff under them. 
Eventually, this problem should go away with attrition, but right now 
you'll most likely find that some of the senior TSA screeners are the 
younger ones. Next time you go through the line, watch the ages of who is 
doing what and see if this fits your local TSA profile.


Best Regards,

Simon Higgs


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