Wireless Debate Brewing; Observations on TSA

Wireless, the salvation for many travelers married to their laptops, has to date been pretty much a customer service versus revenue opportunity issue, or both. Officials at Boston Logan say it's a safety and security issue as well. Continental Airlines disagrees. Massport, which operates Logan, charges $7.95/day for its wireless service; Continental offers free wireless to customers in its President Club lounge at Logan. The debate is currently being reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission, to which Continental formally complained last July. As one might expect, airline and tech groups are siding with Continental; airport groups with Massport. Regarding the latter, it would seem that for airports the overriding issue here is one of control. On that score, an observer would have to agree. That said, I continue to be convinced that it's a customer service issue first and foremost. Unless, of course, Massport can demonstrate that security is indeed a concern. Interestingly, the Transportation Security Administration has yet to weigh in on the debate. * * * Speaking of TSA, some interesting reports have been coming out of late: - The Homeland Security Department's Inspector General, in an analysis of TSA's start-up expenditures, says it cost the agency as much $143,432 per screener in its recruiting efforts - that in Topeka, KS. The better news is it only cost $38,215 per screener at Juneau, AK. Those are the high and low levels in the report. - TSA reports that its bomb detection "puffer" machines should be in place at the 40 busiest U.S. airports by this spring. Reports say a puffer can screen a passenger in 17 seconds, which is expected to significantly impact wait times, while analyzing particles as small as a billionth of a gram. Now we just need to keep an eye on exactly what particles are being examined. - The Business Travel Coalition reports that a recent online survey of business travelers it conducted show that biz folks still think it takes too long to get through passenger screening. And they think it's going to get worse if a Registered Traveler program isn't implemented in the near future. From this seat, the RT program does not have panacea written all over it. - And, another report suggests that the current passenger processing in place takes a toll on TSA employees. A Labor Department report says the rate of screeners injured on the job is some 29 percent, down from 36 percent a year ago but well above the 4.5 percent injury rate for other federal workers. Some see progress. TSA is being held accountable for costs; "puffers" are being put in place; Registered Traveler is slowly becoming a reality; and, the high rate of on-the-job injuries should diminish as technology replaces direct labor in the screening process. Yet, it might be suggested that it's time to bring together architects, designers, airports, airlines, and TSA into one room where they can tackle head-on the real issue - finding an entirely new way to address passenger screening at airports. Thanks for reading.