TSA's 10th Birthday: Cause for celebration or criticism?

On Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will celebrate its tenth anniversary. The TSA's upcoming birthday prompts many questions about whether the agency has been a success or failure within the past decade.

According to the TSA, the organization's most significant achievements include its rapid formation following the Sept. 11th attacks and no major terrorist incidents occurring under the agency's watch.

"The TSA's greatest accomplishment is treating transportation security like the serious, professional, your-life-depends-on-it law enforcement job that it is," said aviation lawyer Mary Schiavo in an article published by The Washington Post. Schiavo notes that, before the TSA's existence, airline security was incredibly ineffective.

There are, however, critics who label the TSA as a work-in-progress and chide the agency for being slow to adapt, as well as for making air travel a miserable experience for passengers.

Read more about the TSA's tenth anniversary in The Washington Post.

Read more about how Motley Rice aviation lawyers work to protect passengers and the safety and security of the traveling public.