Safer Yet Meaner Airports

Just a decade after 9-11, the sometimes-cumbersome safety controls at American airports keep generating criticism, as well as disappointment. Especially when the consequences for the travelers go beyond taking off your shoes, your belt, having to empty your carry-ons or being conducted and rushed in an unfriendly way.

No frequent flyer is surprised by a certain degree of airport rudeness. But at times, these measures that have been extreme after al-Qaeda’s 2001 attack and even more so in the last weeks after Osama Bin Laden’s death, can have inconclusive results. This was exposed in the American press with the occurence of a new case. This time, a severely ill elderly woman was forced to remove her adult diaper during a pat down at the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. The relatives of the protagonist of this issue denounced that the woman, Lena Reppert, aged 95 and with an advanced case of leukemia was screened in a different way by the agents of the Transportation Security Association (TSA) for having been in a wheelchair. “So they brought my mom to the side, and two agents just started patting her” explained Jean Weber, daughter of Reppert, until they eventually “felt something suspicious and they couldn’t determine what it was.” The agents transferred her to a private room to continue their work. After 45 minutes, they explained that they had to dispose of the diaper or not fly, according to Weber’s testimony. They chose the first option.

According to Fox News, the TSA officially replied that their staff had adjusted to the regular protocol for those circumstances and clarified that in no way is a passenger forced to remove their adult diaper.

A recent poll by the U.S. Travel Association showed that the vast majority of Americans would be willing to pay up to $150 on a yearly basis in exchange for the benefit of a fast line in security check ups. It is understandable under circumstances like Mrs. Reppert’s, the second case to make such an impact in a short time. Last April, Todd and Selena Drexel denounced that their six-year-old daughter had been seized excessively and unnecessarily in the Armstrong New Orleans airport. The public could see for themselves thanks to a video of the situation that landed on YouTube, with thousands of views. The TSA, on the other hand, publicly declared that the officer in the matter “followed proper current screening procedures,” but added that they are “exploring additional ways to focus its resources and move beyond a one-sized-fits-all system.”