… Despite Efforts to Curtail Them …

Albracht added that his office has no control over presidential TFRs. “As long as the president travels outside the White House, and presidential candidates are moving around, there will be TFRs,” he said. But the TSA office does have discretion over many other TFR requests, and many are turned down. Many large events, such as sports events and other gatherings, request TFRs. “There would have to be a threat, to justify that,” said Robert Rottman, TSA security specialist. But certain events, such as the Super Bowl and major political conventions, are always going to have TFRs, Albracht said. “We definitely go through excruciating travails to winnow out only the truly deserving requests,” said Rottman. “We’re very aware of the impact these have on general aviation, and we try to keep that impact as low as possible.” Albracht agreed. “If we OK’d every TFR request that we get,” he said, “the national airspace system would come to a standstill.” But when a TFR does make the cut, it’s meant to be taken seriously.