Thanksgiving is historically the busiest travel time of the year in the United States, and the day before it takes the cake as the busiest 24-hour period. Folks all over the country book flights to see relatives or take vacations, and this year along with prices soaring, so are protests.
In light of the Christmas Day attempted-bombing last year, 2010 became a long stretch of airport security advancements. Full-body image scanners filled airports (right now, there are approximately 70 airports participating in their use, out of 450) and the conversations started from there.
The machines provide authorities with a ghostly-looking image of a clothing-less body, helping to detect any illegal objects. While the images are basically black-and-white sketches of bare bodies, they are never public and are immediately destroyed if the passenger isn’t carrying something questionable. Travelers have shown concern for two reasons: a lack of privacy and fear of radiation.
The lack of privacy is largely covered, since the images are either destroyed and are never distributed. The radiation risk has also been assessed by experts who conclude that the risk is minimal and no more dangerous than daily use of a home microwave.
On Nov. 1, authorities from the Transportation Security Administration escalated the measures by instituting an “enhanced pat-down,” which has some U.S. travelers in an uproar. The pat-downs are the alternative to the body scanners, and can take up to four minutes. In order to compensate for the extra time, airline pilots on duty are exempt from the procedure upon showing two photo IDs.
Legally, passengers can opt out of the scan and receive the pat-down instead, but they can’t refuse both, or they face an $11,000 fine. So far, approximately 80 percent of people who traveled this year don’t have a problem with the body scanners.
Now, there is a loosely organized internet boycott of the scanners, to take place on Wednesday. National Opt-out Day, as it’s been called, could affect tens of thousands of passengers although statistics show that this month, only one percent of passengers have declined to be scanned. Groups like “We Won’t Fly” are aiming to slow-down TSA checkpoints. In reality, these protesters are only hurting the travelers, who may miss their flights. The group has also begun issuing t-shirts and bumper stickers with its slogans.
The scary part is that just one or two unruly protestors could end up causing major delays on such a busy travel day. The immensity of the issue hasn’t evaded John S Pistole, chief of the Transportation Security Administration, whose response to the chaos is that he would like to look into more affective screening in a less-invasive way.
Our advice to travelers: Prepare for the worst and get to the airport as early as possible.
