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TSA Says Airlines Baggage Fees Cost Us Big $$$.
Paul Alesse, Photographer
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Centereach | NY | USA | Posted: 11:14 AM on 03.04.11 |
->> "Mommy... it hurts when I swallow."
"Don't swallow then honey." |
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Erik Markov, Photographer
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anywhere | IN | | Posted: 11:27 AM on 03.04.11 |
| ->> This is fault of the TSA/airlines/whoever, people are concerned (whether it's fact or not) that when their checked bag is inspected someone might take items out of it. If everyone involved in the process wasn't so shady, maybe more people would check their bags lessening the load on the "overworked, overburdened, apparently not up to the task, Too Stupid for Arby's employees." |
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Mike Janes, Photographer
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Attica | NY | USA | Posted: 11:40 AM on 03.04.11 |
| ->> If only there was some competition, like high speed rail... |
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Jeff Brehm, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Salisbury | NC | USA | Posted: 11:59 AM on 03.04.11 |
->> I agree with Erik. Why do we accept rampant theft of our property from suitcases that we wouldn't tolerate in any other instance?
OK, I'll give you the IRS .... |
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Thomas Campbell, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 12:51 PM on 03.04.11 |
->> Blame will get passed from the TSA, to the government to the airlines. That's all well and good; who doesn't want to blame TSA and the government?
But when you get down to the details, the blame can truly only rest in one place: Steve Frischling. |
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George Bridges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 12:59 PM on 03.04.11 |
->> So, if no one had carry-on we could do away with security and the TSA would have zero expenses?
Nope. They have to be there to check.If carry-on went away and checked luggage increased then they would need more of the high-power scanners to screen it all costing billions again.
Any way you count it they are passing the buck along to the consumer. We'll pay in checked bag fees, carry-on bag fees (some crazy airlines) or higher security fees. |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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| | | Posted: 2:06 PM on 03.04.11 |
->> The TSA's numbers fail to take into account a number of factors, such as the taxes we pay on airline tickets that cover the costs and the costs that are incurred by screening checked baggage.
Checked baggage screening costs should increase significantly, but they won't because the systems the TSA needs to put into place as safe guards are unseen and do little for their images ... despite providing passengers with an actual layer of security.
There is also the matter of does bag checks, both checked and carry on, fall under "Aviation Security" or does it come from the Checkpoint Screening Security Fund?
Aviation Security for 2011 has a budget of US$5,751,000,000, while the Checkpoint Screening Security Fund has a budget of 'merely' US$324,000,000.
Keep in mind that prior to the TSA, when airport and passenger security was overseen by the FAA, the approximate total cost was US$700,000,000 (US$849,897,815 adjusted to 2010 dollars).
Anyway the TSA is facing cuts, it wants more money, but it is unable to get its own house in order with redundancy, no-bid contracts and a history of spending tens-of-millions on hardware and technology that is not a right fit for the mission.
Just for giggles, the 2011 budget for Federal Air Marshals is US$891,000,000 and only US$162,000,000 on Transportation Threat Assessment & Credentialing
... because obviously one of the lowest funded aspects of the TSA should be "Threat Assessment" |
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John Korduner, Photographer
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Baton Rouge | LA | United States | Posted: 2:59 PM on 03.04.11 |
| ->> The timing is kind of humorous. I recently saw a contractor who contested an airport luggage handlers unemployment benefits for theft...they did a whole investigation and surveillance review because the employee was suspected of taking a juicebox from a carrier's cooler. |
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Michael Proebsting, Photographer
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Barrington | IL | USA | Posted: 3:13 PM on 03.04.11 |
->> Steven,
Who are your sources for those statistics?
Please don't tell me you had live interview with Orville and Wilbur Wright regarding this at Kittyhawk during a layover to Hong Kong for a personal photo shoot with The Dalai Lama. |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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| | | Posted: 3:44 PM on 03.04.11 |
->> Michael,
The info is available from the General Accounting Office. The total budget and percentage breakouts.
You want the budget and percent breakout, call the TSA's Office of Strategic Communication. |
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David A. Cantor, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Toledo | OH | USA | Posted: 3:44 PM on 03.04.11 |
| ->> Sources? We don't need no stinkin' sources!!! |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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| | | Posted: 3:45 PM on 03.04.11 |
| ->> Damn auto correct ... its the US Government Accountability Office |
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Michael Granse, Photographer
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Urbana | IL | USA | Posted: 3:57 PM on 03.04.11 |
| ->> I find it rather amusing that the United States Government actually HAS an "accountability office." |
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Mark Peters, Photographer
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Highland | IL | USA | Posted: 6:40 PM on 03.04.11 |
->> Steven-
Can the TSA demonstrate an actual increase in headcount for the security gates over the time period that the baggage fees have been implemented (or overtime) - or is the typical voodoo accounting so prevalent at budget time? |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | US | Posted: 10:46 PM on 03.04.11 |
->> Steven-
Unless you cite specific sources and provide links/data/references/etc. don't you think that you have a little bit of a (cough cough COUGH) credibility issue?
You're being dragged through the mud an a plethora of fronts yet you keep on doing what you do. Dude...you have some serious house cleaning to do. |
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Nick Morris, Photographer
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San Diego | CA | USA | Posted: 12:28 AM on 03.05.11 |
| ->> Damn Steven no wonder you're on the "No Fly" list. |
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Brian Dowling, Photographer
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Los Angeles | CA | USA | Posted: 2:06 AM on 03.05.11 |
| ->> *yawn* It's one of those big dollar stats without much backing. There are something like 9 million flights a year in the US. That works out to be ~$28 extra per plane. I'm not sure how many passengers fly a year, but I'd guess it costs an extra 25 cents a person in taxes for extra TSA employees while passengers are saving $35 in bag fees. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 3:38 AM on 03.05.11 |
| ->> I have NEVER said I was the sharpest crayon in the box. I have always considered myself a "journeyman" or "fireman". you young pups might wanna look that up. I go out and do what was "expected" "required" "blah blah blah". in the last few weeks due to the instant "internet" we have had mr. fish. and a plethora of "stuff" against him. is it right? well wtf? he has answered with double talk and bullshit. so where are we to go from this? don't be shy. jump in. what does it matter in the long run? |
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David A. Cantor, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Toledo | OH | USA | Posted: 4:15 AM on 03.05.11 |
->> "is it right?"
I don't know...do we, as a community of visual news providers, want him to be an equal representative of said community? Again we have no certified standards which make personal responsibility a key mark, especially online.
Given what you have done to report your stories for your paper and comparing those experiences with his seemingly "embellished" posts all I see is an undermining of your well executed compact with your readers. Would you want him on your team?
Long run? If we're worried about Cit J's and unvetted images diminishing the value of documentary photography, what do we do with "accepted members" of the news reporting community who seem to fail to act in an appropriate manner. How we will know that what we are seeing from someone like that is legitimate reporting? The inconsistencies that are coming to light in that blog seem to undermine this guy's journalism skills.
Is the internet and the 24/7 news cycle more injurious than informative? Again I don't know so I would toss that question to Charlie Sheen.
But in this context it is indeed food for for some serious thought. |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 4:44 AM on 03.05.11 |
->> It's funny... Someone who really does know what the hell they're talking about comes along and everybody goes ")(*#$)(*@", "Unless you cite specific sources and provide links/data/references/etc" ...
If you're really so concerned with integrity, call his source and verify your claims that he's not credible. He named it. Otherwise, shut your mouth. You're journalists too.
Hugs and kisses
Israel |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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| | | Posted: 10:26 AM on 03.05.11 |
->> Delane,
My final thought on this, since I've cited the sources you are to lazy to go and look up.
Credibility
I'll just do the past few months or so
In August I wrote about gaps in air cargo security, despite the TSA saying that cargo was 100% screened. In October the gaps I wrote about came to life with bombs being placed on cargo flights headed to the US.
Following the bombs discover the DHS was saying the timers were set to detonate over the U.S., I was on Twitter discussing the timers being set to under 20 minutes(they were at 17 minutes) as the DHS continued to state otherwise … a day or so later the mainstream media started writing about the timers being at 17 minutes when they were discovered.
On November 5th I wrote about Security Directive 1554-10-05 on a Friday, when the TSA denied its existence. This directive banned printer cartridges. All weekend long the TSA denied it, at one point telling me the ban on printer cartridges was ridiculous…the Security Directive was made public and announced the following Monday. Not one media outlet had anything on this security directive until after it was announced. This is an SSI document.
On November 22nd I wrote about the TSA policy changes to those who choose to opt out, this was in an internal directive that was not issued to the front line TSOs until November 23rd. Not one media outlet had anything on this policy change for more than 12hrs after I wrote about it. This is an SSI policy change.
In January I wrote about TSA Admin Pistole violating an Act of Congress. While mainstream media just said what he was doing was wrong, I was able to cite what law and where in the law he was wrong. You should have no problem finding a copy of Public Law 107-71, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, and finding Ԥ 44920. on Page 16.
At the start of February I wrote about the TSA's new AIT software. In my write up, the day the announcement was made I was able to identify the software as that developed by L3 Systems, which type of L3 software it was as well as where else it was deployed and for how long it had been deployed. None of this info was released by the TSA and L3 Systems did not make any release or statement regarding the software. I have not found any other outlet mentioning the name of the software provider and other details of the software until more than a day after my posts.
As Pistole was meeting with Union leaders to discuss TSO unionizing, I was on Twitter stating he was in a meeting with the two Union leaders and once the meeting was over a 21 page report on Unionization would be released. This meeting was not an announced meeting and the TSA denied the meeting was taking place as it occurred. Well the meeting ended less than an hour later and the 21 page report was released regarding the Unionization vote.
So… since you doubt my credibility … please feel free to address each of these one by one.
...by the way, I am not on a no fly list. Good journalism skills you're using there. |
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Michael Proebsting, Photographer
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Barrington | IL | USA | Posted: 10:32 AM on 03.05.11 |
->> Steven,
I think you are missing the point, it is a credability issue of your last 15 years or so, not some random TSA facts. |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | US | Posted: 11:02 AM on 03.05.11 |
->> Hey Steven-
You are definitely predictable in your response...and those sure are some "facts" you just put out there. Nice journalistic work man.
I'll be sure to let all those anonymous people over at that the Fish Fraud blog, http://fishfraud.blogspot.com/ , know that they are all wrong (cough COUGH) about you :) |
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Michael Proebsting, Photographer
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Barrington | IL | USA | Posted: 11:03 AM on 03.05.11 |
->> Steven,
If I was having my ass flame broiled regarding my ethics, character, and credibility on another web site with a HUGE number of people chiming in, I would take a step back from my narcissistic, emperor with no clothes attitude instead of tempting Delane into a game of Jeopardy as to who knows more about TSA protocol, but that is just me. |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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| | | Posted: 12:20 PM on 03.05.11 |
->> Gee Delane I hadn't seen that site ... or addressed it publicly in early Decemeber owning up to what was factual.
But hey...way to address what I said rather than deflect. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 1:03 PM on 03.05.11 |
| ->> "deflect?" DEFLECT?!!???!??!? with all due respect. if that response doesn't get the SS record for "funny" I don't know what will. steven, I only know you from this site. and I have a rule, before commenting to or about folks I check out their websites/member page..you getting my drift here? in this matter I think you are somewhat delusional. yes I saw your facebook responses to this. you HAVE NOT addressed ANY of the major complaints about you. and before anyone jumps on me....the problem I have is many of these examples come from this message board and the way you changed or embellished things over the years. I don't know who started that site but they must have a serious axe to grind if they researched the message board as they did and find all the stories you have changed over the years. that is what most of us would call a MISSION. most of us in this business are storytellers...and sure over the years our stories about ourselves might change a LITTLE bit, but I find some of the examples cited by this website in YOUR own words a bit more than incredulous. I'll end this up by saying (which a bunch of us were talking about at a basketball game last week, yes dude you have gone viral) if someone was making the claims about you that these folks are I would damn sure be doing more than citing some silly notices that I dug up about the TSA. |
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John Korduner, Photographer
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Baton Rouge | LA | United States | Posted: 1:21 PM on 03.05.11 |
| ->> It's always enjoyable watching an avid discussion about a legitimate topic get derailed by ss vigilantism. The man has an opinion...accept it or discard it, move on...and then we can Return to the Halcyon fields playground! I'll even save you a seat on the ss teeter totter! |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 1:52 PM on 03.05.11 |
| ->> john, with all due respect to you sir. we have enough problems with ethics in this business. I would hardly call honest questions that have gone somewhat viral in the photo community as "ss vigilantism". |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 1:54 PM on 03.05.11 |
| ->> btw, I'm done on this subject. if you want to send me a nasty anonymous email feel free to. I get them all the time. most of them come from my mom anyway so it would be a nice change of pace..... |
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Sean Burges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Canberra | ACT | Australia | Posted: 7:44 PM on 03.05.11 |
->> Seriously, he told you where to go to get the information. Another place you could have checked is the budget submission on the DHS website. Just in case you can't find it, the link is:
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/budget-bib-fy2012.pdf
and the table you are looking for is on page 89.
Steven, the numbers are close to those you offer, but not a match, which is either due to differences in GAO and DHS methodology, a shift between actual spend and declared intent, or an error on your part. Explaining this is a simple and substantive question for you to answer.
Folks, digging up the data Fish used for his analysis that kicked off this little tempest is no small task. There are two ways to keep information confidential: release nothing (the Canadian way) or release everything so that the desired factoids are burried deep in the expository notes to a very lenghty and dull document that seemingly has nothing to do with you are searching for. The US government generally uses the latter approach. It takes weeks to sift through these documents and to link the disparate elements together (this, incidentally, is a big part of my day job). The US approach is also a great way to completely stuff daily print/broadcast media -- it just costs too much to get through the reports before the story is cold. |
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Mike Brice, Photographer
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SLC | UT | USA | Posted: 10:11 PM on 03.05.11 |
->> I am curious where you addressed http://fishfraud.blogspot.com in December.
Can you post the link so I can read your response.
Thanks |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Mike Brice, Photographer
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SLC | UT | USA | Posted: 1:41 AM on 03.06.11 |
->> Delane, there you go again.
Sam himself said no one called but that someone sent an e-mail trying to get him into trouble.
Let's get the facts straight :)
You know I am just messing with you, right? |
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Nick Morris, Photographer
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San Diego | CA | USA | Posted: 2:11 PM on 03.06.11 |
| ->> Steven, I read your blog regularly and enjoy it immensely. I meant no offense by the "No Fly" list. I was making a bad reference to your ill fortunes with the TSA in recent history so if you took offense I apologize. Keep up the good work. |
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Michael Granse, Photographer
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Urbana | IL | USA | Posted: 12:04 PM on 03.07.11 |
->> I flew to Costa Rica (ORD to FLL to SJO) on Spirit Airlines back in December and they might be leading the league in cost cutting. Spirit continues to serve snacks in coach, however everything requires payment via credit card (attendants are not allowed to accept cash). Spirit also charges $30 to $45 for a CARRY ON BAG ($30 in advance, $45 at the gate) but make an exception for cameras, umbrellas, strollers, medical devices, etc. There are also, like most airlines now, fees for checked luggage.
My camera backpack with two pro DSLR's, 70-200mm f2.8, 17-35mm f2.8, and other items was allowed in the overhead bin without a fee (camera bag, though a big one). Spirit does, however, allow a "personal item" (defined as item that fits under the seat) that is not assessed a fee.
There is ZERO legroom in the Airbus A319 as equipped for Spirit Airlines which have 28 inches of separation compared to an industry average of 31 inches (Jet Blue has 34-35 inches).
Here is a link to a story about a Spirit Airlines passenger who had to STAND for an entire flight because he was too tall to fold himself into his seat! http://tinyurl.com/6xnm6rx
I am not tall at only 5 foot 10 inches and I had roughly -0.25 inches of leg room on this flight. That is NOT a misprint, as my knees were actually pushing into the seat in front of me and the indentations I was making in this seat were approximately 1/4 inch deep.
For all of that, however, the Spirit jets left the gate on time and were in the air almost immediately with none of that "hostage situation" air travelers sometimes encounter when they are sitting in a plane on the ground for 11 hours. All four flights were on time if not early, and the staff were absolutely friendly and professional. |
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Lane Hickenbottom, Photographer
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Omaha | NE | usa | Posted: 3:46 PM on 03.07.11 |
| ->> The tangent to this thread is not becoming of SS or it's members. |
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