US Travel Group Receiving More TSA ‘Invasive” Pat Down Complaints

An influential U.S. travel group is getting more and more complaints about TSA pat down procedures and other aggressive security measures being implemented at U.S. airports.

The U.S. Travel Association, the nation’s leading business group for the travel industry, claims in the past few weeks it has received over 1,000 complaints about the heightened security measures. Airline passengers made their complaints to the Association via emails and telephone calls, a report by The Denver Post said.

In the previous month, a more intrusive pat down search procedure was adopted by the TSA (U.S. Transportation Security Administration) along with a wider use of full-body x-ray machines that can take a nude image of a person.

The growing number of complaints “shows an immense interest in this subject,” according to Geoff Freeman, executive vice president of the Travel Association. “Travelers seem to be saying we can do better,” Freeman added.

The Post reported that the Association has put up a website – yourtravelvoice.org, to collect comments from air passengers.  The comments made on the site will be shared with the Obama administration, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate and will be used by a blue-ribbon committee that the group created.

The blue-ribbon committee was tasked by the group to come up with recommendations related to TSA pat down and other airport security measures. The panel, which includes former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge, is expected to come up with these recommendations on February 1.

Meanwhile, a recent poll conducted by CBS News showed that most Americans support the TSA’s use of full-body x-ray machines – with seventy-six percent in favor as opposed to nineteen percent not in favor.

The poll also showed that fifty-seven percent of respondents do not believe that the “enhanced” TSA pat down procedures are not too intrusive while forty percent said they are too intrusive.

Most respondents (fifty-seven percent) also said they would be uncomfortable being on the receiving end of a TSA pat down. Twenty-seven percent acknowledged they would be very uncomfortable receiving the procedure.

As to the effectivity of the TSA pat down and x-ray procedures, forty-seven percent of the respondents say these are “somewhat effective,” while thirty-six percent said the measures are “very effective.”

Only 15 percent of those polled said these are not very or not at all effective.

CBS News said the poll involved a random sample of 1,067 respondents nationwide, who were interviewed by phone on Nov. 29 to Dec. 2.

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