>Holiday Travel: Airlines finally figure out TSA screening deters flying ...
Screening Still a Pain at Airports, Fliers Say
By SUSAN STELLIN
Published: November 21, 2011
The lines will still be long and the screening still invasive at airport checkpoints this Thanksgiving.
While the government has made some changes to security procedures, many passengers and travel executives contend that the moves do not go far enough.
Since last November, the Transportation Security Administration has adopted a policy to reduce pat-downs of children 12 and under, altered some body scanners to display a generic outline of a human figure and begun testing programs that offer expedited screening to pilots and select frequent fliers.
Still, some travelers are bothered by a screening process that has become increasingly time-consuming and intimate, and industry representatives say they are worried that these frustrations are contributing to a decline in air travel.
The Air Transport Association expects 2 percent fewer people will fly this Thanksgiving week compared with last year, while AAA projects a 4 percent increase in automobile travel.
