The TSA: Turnover In The United States

The Transportation Security Administration, more commonly known as TSA, is a part of the United States Department of homeland Security that supervises and manages the safety of travelers in the United States. Unlike other government operated tasks forces such as the military or FBI whose as been in existence since (), the TSA was only recently founded twelve years ago in 2001 after the devastating terroristic attack that took place in New York city’s twin towers earlier that year. There are more than forty eight thousand people employed by the TSA in airports, bus stations, railroads and freeways across every state, but you may never realize when they are nearby. Some have the typical security duties of checking bags, using different

As an aviation management major airport security is a concern that I have taken a huge interest in. Making travel safer to air travelers is one of the biggest tasks that will never end as long as there is a plane in the sky. However, there are many problems that come about when traveling because passengers feel as if they are being harassed, which doesn’t set a good look for the Transportation Security Administration. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) consist of 50,000 security officers, inspectors, directors, air marshals and managers who protect the nation's transportation systems so you and your family can travel safely. They look for bombs at checkpoints in airports, they inspect rail cars, they patrol subways with our

According to Jason Villemez of the PBS News Hour, there were immediate changes to airport security following 9/11. Within 2 months of the attacks, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act was passed. This law requires that every single bag is screened at airports andrequires that certain procedures are followed at every airport (Swickard). Before 9/11, scissors, baseball bats, darts, and 4-inch-long blades were allowed, but these are now illegal under the ATSA (O’Connor). The Aviation and Transportation Security Act also created the Transportation Security Administration known as the TSA (Tognotti). Each airport had to supply their own security before 9/11, but with the creation of the TSA, the government supplied security for airports (Villemez). Gabi Logan of USA Today found that the increase in security including baggage checks caused a six percent decrease in the number of passengers. Passengers chose not to travel at all or found a different way to get to their destination. While security in airports was significantly increased, 9/11 also affected millions of Americans involved in the war on terror”.

The Travel security agency, or the TSA, is an important agency whose job it is to protect our nation in airports and borders. Impressively, the Agency has stopped many weapons, and saved our citizens numerous times. According to several experts however, the TSA has never stopped a terrorist plot. Their methods have been questioned too. As our nation grows deeper and deeper in debt, the TSA is a huge cost that may need to be cut. In order to gain a clear understanding of the TSA, its successes, issues, and cost must be evaluated critically.

The September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks forever changed the way our air travel industry operates. It affected the government, the airlines, airports, employees, and passengers alike. There was not as much of a threat of terrorism before 9/11, so airport security was not nearly as thorough, and at times intrusive as it is today. Through the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, the evolving threat of terrorism has not been successful in carrying out another 9/11 style attack.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created on November 19, 2001, and was signed into law by the 107th Congress (NMAH, 2011). The TSA was created to strengthen the security of transportation systems while allowing free movement of people and trade (NMAH, 2011). In recent years the administration has seen a lower budget due to the removal of three programs and the money will be diverted to fund the wall on the Mexico border (Halsey, 2017). Slow screening times from TSA are causing people to miss their flights due to the large lines. Also, numerous items of contraband are not being detected by the

Shortly after 9/11 twelve years ago, the federal government created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to protect air travel and prevent similar attacks. In 2012, the TSA had a budget of $8.1 billion, and while it claims to improve airport security, it fails to do so. Additionally, their checkpoints are privacy-invasive and cumbersome, negatively impacting the air travel industry. For these reasons, the agency should be abolished.

In November of 2001, the United States was still reeling from the attacks on September 11 of that same year. President George W. Bush created a new organization to prevent future attacks on American flyers. The organization was called the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA. The TSA was tasked with implementing security measures to protect travelers. At first, the measures were welcomed by the public. They were seen as a necessary measure to protect against future 9/11 style attacks. But now, 15 years later, the measures the TSA have put in place have been questioned repeatedly by members of the public, the press and congress. Incidents such as the Underwear Bomber, where a Nigerian

Surely the TSA has foiled some sort of terrorist plot in its nearly fifteen years of existence. But in reality, as far as we know, the TSA has not caught any! Nearly 200 million dollars a year goes into a hidden layer of airport security referred to as “behavior detection” which is where specially trained agents watch out for particular patterns of body language that might indicate that somebody is planning something malicious and apprehending them. However this supposed “vital layer” of security has done nothing more than catch drug smugglers and other such criminals. (CITATION 3) Which is great, but it was not drug smugglers that crashed planes into the World Trade Center. Adding more salt to the wound, an investigation conducted by the Government Accountability Office found in that sixteen individuals later linked with terrorist activities flew 23 different times through United States Airports and not a single one was stopped by the so called “behavior detection officers.” (CITATION

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, airport security went through major changes and procedures. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) which oversees airport security

The U.S. government took many steps to try to make the country safer. It tightened security at airports and in public buildings. A new cabinet-level department—the Department of Homeland Security was created. It works to protect the United States from any terrorist attacks (scholastic.com). The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) didn't exist before 9/11. The TSA was created to do three things: take responsibility for all modes of transportation; recruit, assess, hire, train and deploy security officers for 450 commercial airports from Guam to Alaska within 12 months; and provide 100 percent screening of all checked luggage for explosives. In the past, the TSA detected 50 million prohibited items, including 5,000 firearms on passengers attempting to board planes. Now, 50,000 TSA officers screen nearly two million air travelers each day

As with any government organization the TSA has taken much criticism on its security practices.

We as people examine the impact of post-9/11 airport security measures on air travel in the U.S. Using five years of data on passenger volume, we evaluate the effects of the implementation of baggage screening and the federalization of passenger screening on the demand for air travel. These two congressionally mandated measures are the most visible changes in airport security following the 9/11 attacks. Exploiting the phased introduction of security measures across airports, we find that baggage screening reduced passenger volume by about five percent on all flights, and by about eight percent on flights departing from

Many years ago airport security was not even an issue. People felt secure and safe and rarely worried about being searched. As time went on, the prevealance of terrorism became an increasing issue. There began more acts of terrorism by threatening and holding hostages on board commercial planes. As these acts continued, the government as well as citizens became vulnerable and an airport safety procedure was implemented as a way to ensure the safety of the United States. The implemented procedures over the years included a check and scan of all carry on and checked baggage, body scans, hire government airport employees, and a strict list of carry-on items. This made travelers feel safer as it decreased the ability of terrorist to commit

Finally, the TSA is “hopelessly bureaucratic” according to Kip Hawle, a former TSA chief (Edwards, 2013). That bureaucracy often leads to extended retention of inefficient, ineffectual employees largely because the hiring and firing process is arduous. One study on TSA staff members suggests that employees may not take action because not adhering to the rules and regulations set forth comes with great penalties. Therefore, the employees are typically not free-thinking problem solvers, but people who want to complete their tasks without getting any attention. Unfortunately, this may lead to oversight if a terrorist threat does occur (De Gramatica, Massacci, Shim, Turhan, & Williams, 2017).