JFK Terminal 9 Security - "Tips Appreciated"

I flew through JFK Terminal 9 last Monday on American Eagle. I was supposed to be flying LHR-JFK-PIT-ORD and had an E-ticket receipt issued on AA stock giving the ticket number.



I arrived at the checkpoint (after clearing customs) at around 345pm for a 415pm flight and was shocked to see a handwritten sign on the ID checker's podium saying "TIPS ARE APPRECIATED".



I made a comment that that was not an appropriate thing to display, at which time Mr. Herbert Silva of Worldwide Flight Services (the security contractor) told me that my documents were not in order and that I would not be allowed to go through his checkpoint. He said that "E-Tickets are not valid on American Eagle". I am not certain if his attitude was due to ignorance, or in resentment of my comments about his sign.



I immediately asked to see the GSC (Ground Security Co-ordinator) running the checkpoint. He arrogantly told me that there was "no such thing as a GSC" and that I needed to move or he would have me arrested. I stood my ground and demanded to see the GSC. He refused and called one of the National Guard over to remove me.



I calmly explained that I was waiting for the GSC and the Guardsman backed me up, telling Mr. Silva to fetch either the GSC or his supervisor. He said that he would do so "in a few minutes".



I waited 21 minutes at the checkpoint, announcing every 5 minutes how long I had been waiting, before Mr. Silva finally left to fetch his supervisor. She arrived at 413pm and I explained my situation and told her that I was waiting for the GSC.



Her response was that the GSC was "not available right now". I told her that if the GSC was not physically present at the checkpoint, FAA regulations required that the checkpoint be shutdown and the terminal evacuated, so perhaps she would like to reconsider her answer. She hastily reworded it to say that the GSC was "in a meeting with a FAA inspector".



I immediately pulled out my business card (which gives my profession as an Aviation Consultant) and told her to go hand it to the FAA inspector saying that I would like to meet with HIM instead of the GSC. She was very flustered by now and wandered away. She returned at 422pm saying that the GSC had allegedly cleared my passage through the checkpoint.



By now, I had missed my flight so I called AA and got myself rerouted on a JFK-BOS-ORD flight that got me into Chicago 2 hours late. Fortunately, the AA staff were very co-operative about the whole thing and went out of their way to help me out once they heard the details of the incident.



I am curious as to WHO at AA I should write to about this. A contractor who unilaterally invents incorrect rules and solicits gratuities in a security screening function is completely unacceptable and reflects poorly on American Airlines.