I just found out I'm on the TSA watch list!

[av8rdave]

What a pain...can't check in with kiosks or online. And I commute to/from work.

Let's see....airline captain, a dozen years in the military with a security clearance...these TSA folks are really sharp!

[Parche]

1. Delta Dave!!!

[av8rdave]

3. Guess I shouldn't have made that Obama donation, huh?

[av8rdave]

5. Do you happen to know what airline that cockpit pic is from?

I notice it doesn't have a HUD. Southwest, maybe?

[Parche]

6. 737

it doesnt say, Southwest doesnt have HUD?

I know Alaska does,

Does Delta have HUD?

[av8rdave]

7. Yes, we have the HUD...it's pretty cool, though easy to become psychologically dependent

[Marrah_G]

21. Wooo Delta!

My guy's worked for Delta for more then a quarter century :) (at Logan)

Your company has paid for half my wardrobe !

~giggle~

[av8rdave]

22. wow....we've ponied up $75 million?

j/k :)

[Marrah_G]

23. heheh .......if only!

[av8rdave]

24. Yeah, nobody is going to get that much out of this outfit unless they're on mahogany row

[Marrah_G]

25. Fortunately, he is not to far off from retirement

But somehow I think he will just keep tossing bags around until he is dead or they throw his ass out.

SO what do you think of the merger?

[av8rdave]

26. Good on him!

Unfortunately, I have no pension anymore, so I assume I'll work til they throw me out.

I'm still not sure about the merger....I'll have an opinion after December 20th!

[Parche]

28. Hey

What is the hardest airport to land in, that you have ever had to land in?

I would think DCA, or LGA, both short runways.....
I always have trouble with DCA
:hi:

[av8rdave]

29. Possibly DCA, when they're landing south

Also SJO, just because of runway slope and terrain issues.

[TZ]

2. My Uncles on that watch list..

Jeezus what a pain in the ass! He's been trying to get off of it, but thats really hard.
We have now the joke about him being the one shoe bomber..We were coming back from a relatives bday party and he was pulled aside by TSA at the security check through like he always is..but they made him unpack his carry on because it only had one shoe they could see on the xray..and of course having one shoe is suspicious....He was actually afraid he left the shoe at the hotel..But the security people were very suspicious so he opened the case and there was the other shoe! The xray had missed it...Oh and one other time he had EVERY piece of carry on wiped down for explosives...Not a fun thing...

[av8rdave]

4. Sorry to hear....

It's also a real pain in the rear working for an airline...affects getting to/from work, deadheading, etc.

Ironic, given I have access to the plane and the sterile areas.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. My dear av8rdave!

Oh, good goddamn!

The TSA is so fucked up it's not funny!

I hope you can clear this up pronto, sweetie...

:hug:

[av8rdave]

9. Thanks...I have top men working on it as we speak!

[MilesColtrane]

10. Did you change the middle name of your Facebook profile to "Hussein"?

I noticed a lot of people doing that before the election.
Wondered if there would be consequences from a giant government bureaucracy that doesn't get the concept of irony.

[av8rdave]

12. I haven't even been to my facebook page in months!

If that's how they're identifying threats, well, then, I have even more confidence in them! :sarcasm:

[GoneOffShore]

11. You know what TSA stands for don't you?

Thousands

Standing

Around

[av8rdave]

13. I thought it was....

Too

Stupid to

Act

[lizziegrace]

14. That's funny...

:rofl:

[dembotoz]

15. I used to think that making the list would be sort of a goal

sort of the prestige of making the nixon enemy list.

sort of a life time achievement award.

alas i remain too bland......

don't know if i should congratulate you or feel sorry for you.

[av8rdave]

16. It would be sort of cool, I suppose, if it weren't such a pain in the @$$

[suninvited]

17. I have been on that list for about five years

I finally got one officer to attempt to tell me why. My last name. It is an unusual name and the first three letters are ali. That was the only reason he could see for me to be on it.

[av8rdave]

18. Wow...I don't even have an unusual name

All of my names are about as boringly vanilla as you can imagine.

[TZ]

19. Thats probably the reason then

Someone else with the same name is probably a person of interest to the TSA or someone and you have the bad luck to share that name! I think thats why my Uncle is on the list...His name is VERY common

[av8rdave]

20. Perhaps it is time to change my middle name to Hussein!

[redqueen]

27. Wow... that's pretty bad.

Hope you can get that sorted out quickly.

What a pain in the butt!

[av8rdave]

30. Thanks....just found out fhru my company that

I'm the first! This has never happened with a commuting airline crewmember before.

Guess I should be buying lottery tickets!

[DarkTirade]

31. I haven't tried flying in several years

but with my luck my irish last name and UKish first and middle name (no irish blood in me. I only got the name through marriage) will match that of some known irish car bomber or something.

[MrScorpio]

32. One Irish Car Bomb, coming right up

[DarkTirade]

37. ... okay, that works for me. :)

:beer:

[av8rdave]

39. Oh, man...that's a deadly drink!

It's pretty bad when your 22 year old son has to let you know that....I'm not sure I would survive it.

[KitchenWitch]

33. heebus

:eyes:

That must suck for you.

[ghostsofgiants]

34. That's some damn fine aviation security work, Lou.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

35. And yet, my wife isn't

Even with her commie card.

Commie cards really are red, btw.

[alarimer]

36. This is why airport security is a joke.

You must have a similar name to someone they are looking for. I saw that they had a three-year old on the list for the same reason. Apparently no one at TSA has a brain.

[Akbar]

38. I Got Taken Off That List

Luckily for me, it was right before the explosion of new names being added to the list. (In those days, there were only a couple of hundred thousand people on the list.) You need to go to the TSA web site and fill out a form. It'll give you a number and you have to mail in a copy of your passport along with that number. (Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if they've added some more unnecessary hoops to jump through.)

A couple of months later, I got a letter from them saying essentially that they couldn't tell me whether or not I was on the list or why I might have been put on the list. It didn't exactly say I wasn't on the list any more, but the next time I flew, things were back to normal. However, about six months later, I got hassled by Alaska Airlines and asked them if I was on the list and they said yes. I haven't had a problem since then, so I suspect that Alaska Airlines hadn't cleaned up their database.

Being on this list essentially means that when you go to fly, an airline supervisor has to look at your id. Hence, no online or kiosk check-in. You get in line at the counter. When it's your turn, you have to wait for the counter agent to get their supervisor who takes (a more-often-than-not perfunctory) glance at your id and you're blessed. You still have to stand in line at security to have a TSA person take (a more-often-than-not perfunctory) glance at your id, just like everyone else. This only happens in U.S. airports, always happened to me when starting a trip but never (except in the case of Alaska Airlines) on the return trip.

I cannot imagine why in the world this list/procedure exists. It can't possibly have anything to do with security. The best explanation I can come up with is that it's a vain attempt by TSA to give the illusion that they're actually trying to make airline travel safer. They seem to think that the more inconvenient it is to fly, the safer people will feel.

Maybe they figure that, in the future, if an actual terrorist wants to go on a suicide mission, he'll think twice about using an airliner to do it, simply because flying has become so unpleasant!

[av8rdave]

40. I know what the results of being on the list are, unfortunately

I did find out from my chief pilot that as far as they know, I'm the first airline crew member this has happened to.

Essentially, I can be trusted to fly an airplane with 160 passengers on board, but I can't be trusted to check in for a flight using a computer or a kiosk.

It doesn't foster a lot of confidence in the TSA.

[LynneSin]

41. I guess they got my phone call....

:hide:

That really sucks though

[tigereye]

42. that just sounds dumb.

That kind of thing is what irks me about the whole process- it often seems irrational.

[Bake]

43. Sorry, but you shouldn't have razzed me about Rush ...

For a nominal fee I can have you removed from the list.

:evilgrin:

Bake

[av8rdave]

44. NOW I know how I got on that list!

Damn you Rush haters! Damn you!

:hi:

[yurbud]

45. that's enough to make anyone join DU. I was on the list for years, then off, then on, then off

and I can't figure out why, though the first time I was off it was after the Dems won control of Congress.

[derby378]

46. Just FYI...

Check the Home page for DU. I dedicated a thread to you on GD calling for the TSA watch list to be destroyed.

:hi: