13 December 2005
Hooter's enters airport security business
Effectiveness of
T&A pat-downs questioned
ATLANTA, Ga. -- The Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
announced today that it is taking action to
reverse what has become a public
relations nightmare for the agency regarding invasive and humiliating
pat-down procedures by its airport screeners.
Leslie Handson, spokesperson for the TSA said that it has entered into a
service contract with Hooters of America, Inc. to oversee the
recruitment, selection, training and staffing of additional security
screeners who will eventually be located at all major U.S. airports.
Betty Fredan, spokesperson for Hooters, an Atlanta-based casual dining
restaurant operator and franchiser, said that the company "will use
trainers located in the United States, augmented by a team from Europe,
to help instruct passenger screeners in proven pat-down techniques."
The company reports that those techniques, called Touch and Alert (T&A),
have already been successfully implemented in Italy. "There," said
Fredan, "they have have lead to a decrease in weapons smuggling attempts
onto airplanes and at the same time have lead to an increase in overall
passenger satisfaction with screening operations."
In the U.S., Hooters personnel trained in the T&A system will serve as
special passenger screeners who will perform full-body pat-down
searches of passengers willing to tolerate the added time that the
procedure takes. In tests conducted earlier this year at airports in Monterey, Duluth, Santa
Fe and Bozeman, the only problems encountered were delays due to people
passing through security screening who, for some unknown reason, were not passengers.
One obstacle to full implementation of the program system-wide has been
raised by the Christian Libation Movement (CLM).
Johnny Swageert, spokesperson for the CLM has complained that the new
T&A techniques are ineffective. "We have run undercover
tests of our own," said Swageert, "and have discovered that most of the
Hooters Girls employed as security screeners have no idea what they
are doing. We have had agents who have had to endure repeated pat-downs
by these women before they discovered concealed sticks of gum. One agent," said Swageert," had to
pass through T&A screening over two dozen times before he was
satisfied by the pat-down procedures."
Ms. Handson told Travel Fox that the TSA is looking into the complaint.
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Related Err Travel columns:
© 2004 Applied Psychology
UPDATE:
March, 2006 -- Travel Fox is saddened to learn that after only three
years in the business, Hooters Air is calling it quits. Too bad. Travel
Fox will miss Hooters Air. News of its endeavors have been the most
popular breaking travel news stories among our subscribers.
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