One Small Step For Common-Sense Security?

The Transportation Security Administration has unveiled a new blog site aimed at those wishing to comment (read, complain) about the level of service they receive at checkpoints.

While it's highly improbable anything said on the "Evolution of Security" blog -- insert your own joke here, we're too busy snickering -- will result in shorter lines, more-efficient screening, or a sudden decrease in the number of 85-year-old grandmothers getting frisked... but hey, every little bit helps, right?

David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, remains less-than optimistic. "This will just make it easier for them to receive complaints for them to ignore in the name of national security," he told The Washington Post.

For its part, the TSA promises it will read what's posted on the site... and that complaints and suggestions won't fall on deaf ears, or blind eyes.

"We will incorporate what we learn in this forum in our checkpoint process evolution," TSA Administrator Kip Hawley wrote in the blog's initial post. "Our postings from the public will be reviewed to remove the destructive, but not touch the critical or cranky."

Hawley said the site aims to bring a higher level of discourse between passengers and TSA personnel.. as interaction between those groups at the airport is harried, at best (and muted, for fear a screener will chose to interpret the rolling of your eyes as a "hostile action" -- Ed.)

"There isn’t much opportunity for our Security Officers to explain the 'why,' of what we ask you to do at the checkpoint, just the 'what' needs to be done to clear security," Hawley writes. "The result is that the feedback and venting ends up circulating among passengers with no real opportunity for us to learn from you or vice versa."

Since the Post story ran earlier this week, TSA reports an enthusiastic response from commenters. "The number of comments on our blog has been amazing," the TSA writes. "Many of the posts during the last 24 hours are exactly the types of questions we hope to answer and the conversations we hope to begin with the traveling public.

"Some have been downright mean and cranky but that’s okay too," the agency adds. "For most people, this is the first chance to reach out directly to TSA and tell us about your experiences and we very much want to hear from you."

Airline analyst Terry Trippler says the TSA may be fighting an uphill battle... but gives the agency credit for taking the step in the first place.

Trippler says the TSA "was in the right church, just not the right pew yet" in regards to the blog... adding he wonders if the site won't soon de-evolve into a less-than civil forum comprised of a handful of regular complainers, and a bunch of other "experts" trying to convince they know what to do better than the agency (in other words... he's afraid the blog will degrade into, well, a blog?)

Even worse, Trippler adds, some people may still feel afraid to comment on the site... for fear the TSA will seek retribution on them.

FMI: Take Your Chances!