Frequent Flyers Are Not Satisfied With the TSA, Survey Shows

Those who fly most are not a fan of the TSA. According to a recent survey, 85 percent of frequent flyers think that the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is doing either a poor or fair job in performing security screenings at U.S. airports.

A survey by Frequent Business Traveler magazine shows that travelers still don't like the TSA. Frequent flyers hold the TSA in low regard as 65.6 percent of respondents said that the TSA's screening procedures are either not effective or not too effective at preventing acts of terrorism on an aircraft. Only 26.6 percent believe that their procedures are somewhat effective, 6.8 percent think they're very effective and only 1.2 percent think it is extremely effective.

FBT surveyed 2,415 people between the period of August 9 through September 10 with the help of FlyerTalk, the world's largest online travel community.

"This year's survey results demonstrate that there is still much work to be done at America's airport security checkpoints," said Jonathan Spira, editorial director, Frequent Business Traveler.

In other findings, almost 45 percent said they weren't satisfied with their last security experience; 29.6 percent said they were either satisfied, very satisfied, or extremely satisfied. Slightly less than half (46.2 percent) said that the TSA was doing a poor job in airport security screening, 38.2 percent rated it fair, 14.7 percent rated it good, and only one percent rated the agency's work as excellent.

Nearly half of the respondents, or 45.9 percent said they've used the TSA's new PreCheck program to pass security quicker and 80 percent of those who used it said they were either satisfied, very satisfied or extremely satisfied with the experience.

While the TSA may not be well liked, they seem to be improving. FBT conducted a similar survey last year in which the TSA was doing even worse. FBT says the TSA improved in every category this year. For instance the amount of frequent flyers who found the TSA to be doing a poor or fair job in airport security screenings dropped by five percentage points. Also, the percentage of survey respondents who found the TSA's efforts ineffective at preventing acts of terrorism dropped by ten percentage points. When thinking of their most recent experience, 21 percent fewer flyers were dissatisfied.