Fifteen percent of airline passengers, or about 300,000 people a day, have been subject to patdowns since they were implemented around the nation in September. Hundreds of women have complained to the agency that the procedure was a humiliating and unnecessary invasion of privacy, and the TSA acknowledged yesterday those complaints were at least part of the reason the procedures are being changed.
"We've been looking at the patdowns for a long time and certainly, customer feedback was a factor," said Ann Davis, the TSA's New England regional spokeswoman.
Use of patdowns in airport security started after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but had been used sparingly.
That changed in September, when the TSA enhanced its security procedures after a summer terrorist attack in which women smuggled weapons onto two Russian passenger jets.
In addition to increasing the patdowns, the TSA in September also instituted rules calling for all passengers to remove bulky clothing like blazers and big sweaters when being screened before a flight, instead of just their coats.
More passengers are now being subjected to intensive secondary screenings, and those examinations have been beefed up.
Some travelers are selected for secondary screenings by setting off metal detectors. Others are selected by their airline, either at random or because they were flagged by a profiling system in use since 1997.
Once selected, all of a passenger's luggage is swabbed for traces of explosives and hand-searched, and the passenger must undergo a patdown.
Before September, patdowns were used only if a passenger being screened set off a metal detector, but with the TSA's tougher measures in place, it became automatic for every passenger who was picked for secondary screening.
Starting today, screeners will continue to use the backs of their hands to pat down arms, legs, sides and backs, but the more invasive search of the chest area will not be performed routinely.
