"John Pistole, Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, is urging passengers angry over new TSA safety measures not to boycott airport body scans during the holiday traveling season.

An internet-organized National Opt-Out Day is scheduled for Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving and the busiest travel day of the year, when angry travelers are planning to refuse to walk through body scans. The graphic scans take only a few seconds, but people who decline the process must undergo an enhanced pat down which takes much longer and can cause a huge backlog of flights.

Pistole said on Monday, ""Just one or two recalcitrant passengers at an airport is all it takes to cause huge delays."" He asked flyers not to ""tie up people who want to go home and see their loved ones.""

The TSA head has acknowledge the invasiveness of the new security measures and has pledged to review them. However, he says the TSA must balance privacy with passenger protection. Pistole also noted that only a relatively small proportion of the 34 million travelers were subject to the full pat downs since the changes have gone into effect."
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