1. abolish TSA
2. lock/secure cock pit doors & arm pilots
3. no less than 2 air marshals per flight

why can't this be done?

35 minutes early is considered 'late' for current day flying? Wow, I'm so glad my life doesn't require doing business with the airlines, that's farking stupid that's what that is.

redmid17: I flew out of Allentown too many times this summer, and I would routinely get from the rental counter to the plane in under 15 minutes. It helps there are only ~15 gates, but I imagine that Rock Springs airport isn't bigger.

I'd be flabbergasted if there was more than 1 gate in Rock Springs. And these are the type of planes that you get off on a set of steps and walk into the terminal. There are no jetways.

Although, I just checked the airport and 2 planes just landed within 10 minutes of each other. They are probably swamped with a dozen people milling about wondering what in the hell they are doing in Rock Springs WY.

penthesilea: This chick was late, but they shouldn't send every single female home and only leave the guys. They should have at minimum one male TSA & one female TSA on site when the airport is in operation.

The way I read the story, the airport had sent EVERYBODY home, a male TSA agent may have just been there by accident, or maybe we has a manager who could have screened the late passenger if he was not a she, but officially, there were no screeners left in the airport when she got there.

No other females on the flight?

if only we could carry some form of identification proving we are american citizens and not terrorists like the tsa...

How do they deal with transsexuals?

Is there a special procedure, or do they just send them straight to Guantanamo?

Am I the only one who watched the video in the article and grew a big woody at about the 1:00-1:02 mark?

John Paul Jones: I dunno what y'all are smoking, but I've routinely arrived at security 30-40 minutes before my flight and had no problems whatsoever. A few times, I got in line 10 minutes before departure and still made the flight.

Yes... I thought the recommendation was 30 minutes for domestic flights, and hour for international.

If they make it long enough they can skip the airplanes altogether and rely on continental drift to get you to your destination...

James!: arrived at security about 35 minutes before the scheduled departure

biatch you were late.

Seriously, who shows up 35 minutes before the scheduled departure and expects to actually get on the plane? Yes, it's a pain in the ass; it's also a reality and you have to plan accordingly. I hate the TSA as much as anybody, but your failure to get yourself to the airport on time is not the TSA's fault.

I'm as anti-TSA as you can get, but this lady knows damn well this wasn't discrimination -- just the normal airport BS these days. The fact that she's clinging to "it's because I'm a woman" makes me hate her almost as much as I hate the TSA.

/almost...

I've been to security 30 minutes before departure plenty of times post-9/11, at major airports. No problem.

The problem here is the lazy TSA screeners decided to leave early or their supervisor scheduled them to leave early for whatever reason.

I suspect there will be TSA porn soon enough (if there isn't already).

Well-hung guy: "Sorry, ma'am, there's no female TSA agents here to screen you so I'm going to have to ask you to leave the airport."

Busty pornstar: *pushes her boobies against each other* "How about you just screen me, instead?"

etc.

ArkAngel: dahmers love zombie: Yeah, the TSA needs to go, but you can't show up last minute any more. Until the public grows some nuts and demands the TSA be shut down, people need to play by their stupid, security theater rules

You couldn't be that late before. In all the times I've flown, I have only gotten through security and to my gate that quickly once. And that was an early morning flight on Christmas Eve two years ago.

You've never flown out of Long Beach Airport I take it. 5 minutes front door to plane(up an old fashioned stair truck)

Amos Quito: How do they deal with transsexuals?

Is there a special procedure, or do they just send them straight to Guantanamo?



/hot

timelady: Try being disabled. I fly international every two months. They request I check in two hours before a flight, then be near gate no less than 3/4 per flight. FOLO too. Connecting flight delays can be a biatch. They don't unload my wheelchair scooter, it gets sent to next flight, I'm put in whatever has wheels and some poor sod races me to next flight. Bit disempowering but you get so used to those slices being taken out of what independence you manage.

I remain polite and as graceful about it all as possible, why blame some unconnected employee who is helping you? And so far, no TSA nasties either. Lots of wondering and almost freak outs by staff that I am travelling alone - 'damn, mad Aussie cripple chick, better be nice to this looney' kind of thing:) Lots of being told I'm 'brave' (well, THAT makes me feel nervous), and being prayed for/over (a uniquely US thang).

I know, CSMACC ;)

Wow, polite, graceful, patient, forgiving... of the TSA?

Lady, you don't belong here.

Late or not, maybe they should have given her the CORRECT reason. Then we wouldn't have seen this story.

MeinRS6: Have the airlines run security. No more pat downs.

Oh, yeah. Great plan. How long until the "not having your balls cupped by a sweaty, overweight guy during the patdown" fee is instituted?

/I'm looking at you, Spirit Airlines
//of course, first-class flyers will get their own separate security process, with no patdowns or scans, just a handy knife-sharpening-and-gun-cleaning service, with pre-boarding gateside delivery of your weapons

penthesilea: This chick was late, but they shouldn't send every single female home and only leave the guys. They should have at minimum one male TSA & one female TSA on site when the airport is in operation.

Agreed. For a small airport - esp. one that could afford to send all screeners home early - 35 minutes before take-off should have been more than enough time to feel someone up & make sure she wasn't carrying a 3oz. Shampoo of Doom.

The system worked.

redmid17: cmunic8r99: SlothB77: James!: arrived at security about 35 minutes before the scheduled departure

biatch you were late.

Pocket Ninja: While there were no female officers present at the time, ultimately the passenger was not screened by TSA because the airline was no longer accepting passengers for the flight."

I don't think people realize how small airports work. You can literally get there two minutes before the flight and still make it. The terminal is the size of a small house, the terminal the size of your living room. In many cases the airline agent is the same person that loads and unloads the luggage, her husband is the TSA agent and her son is the pilot. These are very flexible operations with very small manifests.

The most hilarious example i saw, when i flew out of Rutland, VT airport. The security gave this guy the rigormaroll for ten minutes over his luggage. Then, the only seat left on the plane was the co-pilot's seat. He was seated there, where he literally had to go out of his way to avoid accidentally hitting the controls on the plane's dashboard. All he had to do was reach one hand out slightly and start hitting buttons or wrestle the steering wheel from the pilot and he could have taken the plane down. All 12 of us passengers.

The Rock Springs Airport's website says ticketed passengers should check in 45 minutes prior to departure (new window). If it takes ten minutes to get checked in, getting to security 35 minutes prior to departure isn't unreasonable - or late.

I flew out of Allentown too many times this summer, and I would routinely get from the rental counter to the plane in under 15 minutes. It helps there are only ~15 gates, but I imagine that Rock Springs airport isn't bigger.

Hell, I fly out of Reno and I can get through baggage check AND security in less than 30 minutes, except during holidays. That's (technically) an international airport too.

The only conclusion I'm drawing from this article is that SkyWest are a bunch of dicks. That is, unless their tickets have some huge "be here before this time or you WILL NOT get on the plane" notice. A suggested arrival time doesn't count.

Not sure how it works on Amtrak, but most rails systems work on the principle: turn up at or before the time of departure - board the train.
I travelled across Germany by train, with five-minute 'layovers' at the points where I changed trains, and never missed one.
Trains are cool.

redmid17: Cybernetic: James!: arrived at security about 35 minutes before the scheduled departure

biatch you were late.

Seriously, who shows up 35 minutes before the scheduled departure and expects to actually get on the plane? Yes, it's a pain in the ass; it's also a reality and you have to plan accordingly. I hate the TSA as much as anybody, but your failure to get yourself to the airport on time is not the TSA's fault.

She was at security 35 minutes before the departure time....at a 1 or 2 gate airport. They haven't even started calling for VIPs that far before the flight. The airport itself says to get there 45 minutes before your flight. I can easily imagine ten minutes checking a bag and getting a ticket. Have you ever even flown out of a non-major airport?

Seriously. Those places feel more like Greyhound stations than real airports.

jtown: Reminds me of a pre-911 flight where my dad and I stopped for a couple drinks before I headed home. "Oh, shiat! We're late!" So we hauled ass to the little airport in South Podunk. I ran into the terminal and it was deserted. Not a soul in sight. As I was looking around, someone came out of an office and asked if I was supposed to be on the flight (there being only one flight at the time). Yes. Well, that's it. You'd better run. Ran past the unmanned screening area onto the tarmac, tossed my bag to the baggage handler, and climbed aboard. One engine was already running. Nobody looked at my ticket, checked my bag, checked me, or anything. This was a commercial airline, too, not a private charter.

Things definitely change...

POST 9/11, we were flying from Az to Utah on Buddy Passes(Never again, BTW), and our route took us from Phoenix to Tucson, to Vegas, to Salt Lake. Every time, we had to wait until the last minute to see if we could even get on the plane. In Vegas, it was a puddle jumper, and wasn't pulled up to the jetway. The attendant called us up and pointed out the window. She said 'There's your plane. It's about to leave, they will not wait for you. You need to go out that door, down those stairs and across the runway as fast as you can before they close the doors, but DO NOT RUN. If you run, then TSA will chase you down and arrest you. If you don't get to the plane before the doors shut, you're out of luck.'. We made it, but we were scared of missing our flight(Already a 5 hour ordeal from layovers, usually a 1 hour trip), scared of getting arrested, and scared of somehow getting locked out of the airport if we didn't make it. We made it, but I had to smell the stupid lavatory the whole trip...

Pocket Ninja: While there were no female officers present at the time, ultimately the passenger was not screened by TSA because the airline was no longer accepting passengers for the flight."

I'll just leave this here.

Why is TSA being blamed for this again? There's plenty of other stuff we can blame them for.

Pocket Ninja: While there were no female officers present at the time, ultimately the passenger was not screened by TSA because the airline was no longer accepting passengers for the flight."

But that's run of the mill stuff, not inflammatory at all.

So what's the fun?

/Black man detained by state officials for several hours without charges. Dun dun dunnnnn!!!

*Detained in his own car due to traffic caused by planned city road maintenance.

Well, it's a Fox affiliate station, so let's cut through the BS and sensationalism and get down to what probably happened.

Se arrived at the airport 35 minutes before departure and decided that a quick Cinnabun and cup of coffee was in order. She arrived at security 10 minutes before departure. No female agents were available and they offered to allow a male to do a supervised pat-down. She made a scene and she was told to step out. Being an AW, she called the local Fox station and they squeezed her in between the story of an ass-raping gay dog and something about a liberal councilman.

dkimball: No other females on the flight?

no read the farking article?

Super Chronic: Seriously. Those places feel more like Greyhound stations than real airports.

That wasn't my impression of PVD or MHT, but perhaps they count as "medium sized" by your standards.

James!: arrived at security about 35 minutes before the scheduled departure

biatch you were late.

Some of these regional airports are so small that you walk in the front door, walk 30 feet to the ticket counter, 20 feet to the metal detector, and 30 feet to the door outside to get on the airplane. There is no reason to make people arrive 2 hours ahead of time in these little airports.

TSA farks up and is useless, just like they always are in 100% of these cases.

JackieRabbit: Well, it's a Fox affiliate station, so let's cut through the BS and sensationalism and get down to what probably happened.

Se arrived at the airport 35 minutes before departure and decided that a quick Cinnabun and cup of coffee was in order. She arrived at security 10 minutes before departure. No female agents were available and they offered to allow a male to do a supervised pat-down. She made a scene and she was told to step out. Being an AW, she called the local Fox station and they squeezed her in between the story of an ass-raping gay dog and something about a liberal councilman.

Is that one piece or two?

I like to get to the airport way early so I can go to the lounge and get good and toasted before I squeeze into the flying toothpaste tube. I so get my money's worth out of the lounge membership.

Makes flying a great experience, except for the people who have to listen to me snore.

//Sleepy drunks are the very best kind.

How dare she not be a good German!