Is the TSA becoming more tolerable?

Americans may not love the TSA, but they are learning to tolerate it.

In the last few years the Transportation Security Administration has removed the full-body scanners that create a nude-like image of passengers and restricted pat-down searches of children and the elderly, among other changes.

A new survey suggests that such efforts have made TSA screening less offensive to travelers.

Among more than 2,700 adults questioned in a recent survey, 64.2% said they are satisfied with airport screening procedures, with another 23.3% saying they are neutral about it. By comparison, the same survey last year found that 62.2% were satisfied and 19.8% were neutral.

Travelers who described themselves as unsatisfied about airport screening dropped to 12.5% from 18% last year, according to the online survey by Travel Leaders Group, a Minnesota-based travel agency company.

TSA officials say the agency has worked hard to ease the screening process for frequent travelers to focus more attention on high-risk fliers.

“Collectively, these efforts are part of a system-wide shift away from the one-size-fits-all security model following the 9/11 attacks,” said TSA spokesman Ross Feinstein.

Longtime critics of the TSA acknowledged that the agency has eliminated some procedures that annoyed travelers — such as the so-called “nude scanner.” But most of those changes came after loud protest from travelers, said Paul Hudson, president of flyersrights.org, a nonprofit passenger rights group.

“I would say there have been some improvements, but in many cases it has come after some kicking and screaming,” he said of the TSA.