scanners and to register their disapproval of new TSA procedures for conducting physical pat-downs — the required alternative for those who opt out of the scanners. Protesters were also expected to appear at 27 airports to pass out flyers reading, “You have the right to say, ‘No radiation strip search! No groping of genitals!’ Say, ‘I opt out.’”

But at the American Airlines terminal at San Francisco International Airport security checkpoints were orderly and fast Wednesday, and no protesters were in evidence. 

Passengers in one checkpoint queue were directed randomly to pass through either a standard metal detector or a ProVision millimeter wave body scanner. In a second queue, the type of screening depended on which conveyor belt the traveler lined up at: The right one went through a body scan, the left, with rare exception, put passengers through the metal detector.

Threat Level observed 30 passengers submit to the ProVision scan without obvious protest or a single opt-out, though screeners diverted one woman headed for the the naked scanner into the metal detector instead, likely because of the small dog she was carrying in her arms.

Full-body scanners are currently being used in these 68 airports, according to the TSA. Some passengers and civil liberties groups have criticized the TSA for using the scanners, citing privacy and radiation concerns. They’ve also called the pat-downs — which involve TSA agents using open hands and fingers to search genital and chest areas — invasive and humiliating.

The protest was called for Wednesday, the day before the Thanksgiving holiday and traditionally one of the busiest air travel days of the year. About 1.6 million people were expected to fly over the holiday, according to the American Automobile Association. The TSA had urged passengers not to participate in the protest, since it would slow security lines considerably if numerous passengers refused to go through the scanners, causing delays and chaos for all passengers.

But it appears those fears went unrealized as airports around the country reported no security delays and indicated few passengers were opting out of the scanners.

At La Guardia airport in New York, workers told Bloomberg they had seen no evidence of slowdowns. At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where 14 scanners are in use, officials reported that the wait in security lines was between 10 and 20 minutes, which was an improvement over many ordinary Monday mornings when passenger traffic is traditionally high.

At Baltimore Washington International Airport, only four passengers had opted out of scanners as of 9:30 a.m., according to Fox News. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was reporting only a wait of 10 minutes to get through security and said that security officers had received “lots of passenger compliments.”

Officials at other airports in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia said that wait times were minimal and also reported supportive feedback from passengers.

Airlines have reported no delays or other impact from passengers opting out of scanners and indicated that ticket cancellations are at normal levels. All airlines that spoke with Bloomberg, except Southwest, said they would not delay planes for passengers caught in security lines.

Photo: Kevin Poulsen, who contributed to this report

See also:

• TSA Chief Apologizes to Airline Passenger Soaked in Urine After Pat-Down
• Audit Faults TSA’s Training of Airport Screeners as Rushed, Poorly Supervised
• TSA Investigating ‘Don’t Touch My Junk’ Passenger
• Taiwanese Animators Recreate TSA ‘Junk’ Incident
• National Opt-Out Day Called Against Invasive Body Scanners
• Lawmakers Move to Eject Nude Scanners From New York Airports

Authors: Kim Zetter

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