November 28, 2011 

By: Alan Kirschenbaum

What we are witnessing at the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) these days is typical of all organizations that, for survival purposes, are adapting their goals to the exigencies of external pressures.

In this case, TSA has given in to a combination of passenger backlash and potential loss of income for the airline industry. Part of this adaptive process still hinges on viewing airports as assembly lines where passengers are cogs in the manufacturing process. Emphasis still remains on developing more clever software to predict and ameliorate flow patterns and utilizing smart technology to speed up security checks.

It is therefore not surprising that some marginal changes are being instituted in security rules and regulations with the purpose of speeding up the flow of “units” by reducing “friction” at check points. This includes the newly introduced VIP treatment for “sanitized” passengers. But, for the first time, the concept of allowing TSA agents to have discretion in making decisions appears to have been taken on board.

Alan (Avi) Kirschenbaum is the initiator and coordinator of The BEMOSA Consortium, a European-wide research project aimed at improving security at airports. A Professor of Organizational Sociology and Disaster Management at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion Israel Institue of Technology, Kirschenbaum is a world renown expert in the field of disaster management who has authored several acclaimed books and numerous articles. He lectures widely and is an advisor to governments, public institutions and security related companies.

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