Leaders of two unions representing pilots at US Airways and American Airlines have advised their members to decline to be screened by new advanced-imaging-technology full-body scanners and request a pat-down instead. "No pilot at American Airlines should subject themselves to the needless privacy invasion and potential health risks caused by the AIT body scanners," wrote Dave Bates, president of the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 11,000 pilots at American, in a letter to members. The new scanners produce ionizing radiation, which can be harmful to health, especially when added to the high doses of radiation that pilots already are exposed to on the job, Bates said. Mike Cleary, president of the US Airways pilot group, said the TSA procedures are "blatantly unacceptable," and the alternative pat-down procedure also has problems. Cleary said the pat-down process "has already produced a sexual molestation in alarmingly short order."
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/airline-pilots-resist-new-tsa-procedures