Wednesday, November 2, 2011

IOE Scheduled....2 weeks away

Hanging out a lot with my daughter during my wait for IOE. While out and about today I got a phone call from the training department.

My daughter is 14 months old....almost 15 months. She has associated holding anything to your face with saying the word "Hi" over and over again.

Once I answered the phone she started in "Hi, Hi, Hi!" Cute...but it can make it a little difficult to have a conversation.

Thankfully the lady calling has kids and understood. She kept it short and to the point.

She asked if I minded completing my IOE from a base other than my own. I told her I didn't care where, just wanted to get done ASAP. She was happy with that answer. I can request to do IOE in my own base. There are advantages to it, but since I've been based here from day one, I know how things operate.

My IOE starts with a deadhead on the 12th. My actual trip starts on the 13th and finishes on the 17th. Appears to be a 5 day 24 hour trip. She stated I "should" be able to get back home on the 17th. I will have to wait till the trip is loaded into my profile to see the nitty, gritty.

Beyond that not a whole lot going on.

I did take a trip with my family over the weekend. Simple day trip.

Going through security I had a "discussion" with TSA.

I was wearing my crew ID but business casual clothes. My family travels light. Diaper backpack, adult backpack, and a car seat on wheels.....that's it.

My wife brought my daughter through and was sent through the metal detector. I put the items through the Xray machine and was directed to the body scanner. I asked if I could go through the metal detector as it was my understanding crew are exempt from the body scanner. The agent stated that's only if I was in uniform. I then stated I refuse to go through the body scanner.

I was then sent through the metal detector and told to wait. At first I was confused. Then I realized what was going on.

A agent directed me to the side and stated I would be patted down. In my head I yelled, "Cut!" (as in stop the show).

I stated I had no problem with their silly pat down (my words exactly), however I wanted all of my items (car seat and backpacks ) given to my wife.

My wife was about 20 feet away with a "WTF did you just do?" look on her face. She thought I was being detained.

I then stated I wanted my pat down to be a private pat down. The agents were now really confused.

Allegedly they were all new to THIS checkpoint and did not know where the private area was. I waited. They discussed in a huddle...literally.

Finally I was brought to their break room where I was patted down.

Once done I asked for the supervisor. There wasn't one available, but there was a "lead" (supervisors have 3 bars, leads have 2). I questioned her a bit on the whole screening. Her answers are inconsistent with what I've been told in the past. I will have to follow up with a supervisor next time I head up to the airport.

Pilots are extensively screened. There are so many checks and roadblocks to becoming an airline pilot that it becomes unnecessary for additional screening. I won't go into details about airport security and flight crews, but I feel changes are needed. There is so much inconsistency that it's frustrating.

And with that...I wait.

 

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