101 Pat-Downs: An Undercover Look at Airport Security and the TSA

Why is airport security so stressful? Why do the nearly two million travelers who fly every day in the United States put up with long lines, arbitrary rules and invasive screenings in order to fly? How do Transportation Security Administration officers (TSOs) deal with the disrespect and anger directed at them? Where do airport security policies come from?

Award-winning organizational researcher and communication expert Shawna Malvini Redden asked these questions for years—interviewing more than 200 passengers, flight crew members, and security officers to find out answers. Spending a decade as an undercover observer during her travels, she took note of everything from TSOs cracking jokes to passengers fuming over carry-on confiscations to the occasional security shut-down, and everything in between.

101 Pat-Downs is the story of Malvini Redden's research journey—part travel memoir, part investigative research, and part light-hearted social commentary that explores all things airport security. It offers explanations of the Transportation Security Administration's most vexing policies; funny and frightening stories from passengers, airline crew, and TSA officers; and useful suggestions for making airport security interactions easier and more humane.

Along the way, Malvini Redden introduces common characters of airport security, humanizing the stereotypically gruff TSO and explaining why so many passengers feel nervous inside TSA checkpoints. Ultimately, Malvini Redden shows how people navigate communication in complex interpersonal situations and offers research-driven suggestions for improving interactions for passengers and TSOs alike.