Wednesday, March 13, 2013

TSA strikes again, with a blind view of the aircraft interior


After reading numerous passionate articles about the lifting of the knife ban for aircraft security, allowing potential weapons on planes, the real issues have finally come to light.

Responses in USA Today, well represent both sides of the arguement, and now hold a flashlight on the primary issue.
People are saying that the flight deck is now safe, so why do we need safety in the cabin? People are acknowledging that terrorists are secured from having access to the cockpit, even if they did have a knife. Basically, airplanes can no longer be used as a weapon if terrorists cannot acces the flight deck.
The door is locked. The door is bulletproof. The threat is gone.

So why have TSA at all? If the activity in the cabin is no longer an issue or threat, why challenge passengers at all?

The crew members in the cabin are dealing with all sorts of activities - not just potential terrorist action. We deal with drunks, mental illness, potential terrorism, medical emergencies, etc etc etc.
Terrorism was the catalyst to the issue of having weapons, or potential weapons, on planes, but the reality is, the majority of problems that arise, and that would be accelerated by having knives, and other potential weapons, are the everyday issues that are not addressed or acknowledged by TSA or management of most airlines. A veteran American Airlines Flight Attendant documented nearly 1200 instances of customer misconduct on American Airlines alone last year (Laura Glading, USA Today Monday March 11, 2013).

These are the issues. These are the problems. Passenger misconduct is a real, everyday issue. Al Quaeda is hardly worried about getting a tiny knife on board the plane. Terrorism will always be in the forefront of all flight crews security processes, but our daily concerns are incidents that occur on a daily basis.
The security of flight crews needs to be addressed as seriously as the threat of the flight deck. Are our lives not as valuable? Are our concerns not as important? Is it OK to let belligerent passengers get onboard any aircraft with a potential weapon because they have not been identified as an international terrorist? I don't think so.

American
Mom
Flight Attendant
(in that order)
S.L.S.