As the new TSA Administrator is sworn in two events have occurred that may influence his appointment — but careful consideration should be given before any actions are taken.

The first is a recent news report about comments made by Representative John Mica, blasting TSA for it’s ineffectiveness and top heavy bureaucracy. Click here.

Second, is a movie that has just come out called “Please remove your shoes,” that also blasts TSA.

I have not seen the movie yet so I’ll reserve comment on that for now.

As for Mica’s comments, I’m a bit dismayed that we need to reorganize TSA again. The last Administrator was an organizational expert and realigned the organization . . . after the first 3 administrators took their turn re-organizing. Why is it that whenever someone new to an organization steps in, they reorganize?

If the TSA is like the Titanic and the ship is in danger of sinking, let’s not call a committee together to try to reshuffle the deck chairs. Let’s focus on plugging the holes and pumping out the water before we figure out how to restructure so we don’t hit another iceberg. I think the focus for the new TSA Administrator should be to play to his strengths. He’s a law enforcement type – a federal agent / counterterrorist type – let’s put THOSE skills to work right away by conducting the threat assessments to determine as best we can where the leaks are coming from (if we’re sticking with this sinking ship metaphor) and plug the holes. Let’s not ask the FBI agent to become a reorganizational expert.

As we’ve seen, aviation is and continues to be a target for terrorism. There are plenty of icebergs out there and taking time to shuffle the deck chairs while the ship continues to sail into perilous waters is not good security.