More than 80 percent of 934 travel professionals polled Wednesday by NBTA said that when they next travel, they "definitely" or "probably" will accept new TSA security measures including expanded full-body scans and enhanced pat-downs "if it results in increased safety in air travel." Nine percent said they "might or might not" accept the new procedures, while 6 percent said they probably will not and 4 percent said they definitely will not.
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TSA's security changes include more thorough pat-downs and wider use of full-body scanners, and have
created quite a stir. Some of the poll respondents--which included both travel buyers and sellers--expect to tolerate the new policies only reluctantly. Just over half indicated they "support" them and 27 percent said they don't. Two-thirds of all respondents said they feel "about as safe" traveling by air as they did "one month ago," while 29 percent indicated they feel safer.
"Business travel professionals are adopting a wait-and-see attitude toward these new measures," according to NBTA executive director Mike McCormick, adding that they are concerned about adding "delays and disruptions to an already challenging travel security process."
More than seven in 10 participants they would be willing to "pay for and undergo a one-time, in-depth security check that would enable them to pass through airport security more quickly and efficiently."