Slashdot Mirror
Long TSA Delays Force Airports To Hire Private Security Contractors (popsci.com)
An anonymous Slashdot reader writes:
TSA checkpoints caused 6,800 American Airlines passengers to miss their flights in just one week this spring, and the problem isn't improving. "Two years ago the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) offered $15,000 to anybody -- literally anybody -- who could come up with an idea to speed up airport security..." writes Popular Science. "They wouldn't say who won or for which idea, but since we're here two years later with longer wait times than ever, it's fair to say it hasn't lived up to the groundbreaking ideals of that call to action... Now in summer 2016, the TSA recommends arriving three hours early instead of a mere two."
So this spring the Seattle-Tacoma airport replaced many of the TSA staff with private screeners, although "Private security operates under strict direction from the TSA, and even those airports that heavily utilize private contractors still have a lot of TSA personnel in the back rooms..." according to the article. "The ability to do exactly what the TSA does, only faster and cheaper, seems to be the major draw." Now 22 U.S. airports are using private screeners, although the Seattle and San Francisco airports are the only ones with significant traffic.
The article also cites a Homeland Security report which discovered that investigators were able to smuggle a test bomb past security checkpoints in 67 out of 70 tests.
So this spring the Seattle-Tacoma airport replaced many of the TSA staff with private screeners, although "Private security operates under strict direction from the TSA, and even those airports that heavily utilize private contractors still have a lot of TSA personnel in the back rooms..." according to the article. "The ability to do exactly what the TSA does, only faster and cheaper, seems to be the major draw." Now 22 U.S. airports are using private screeners, although the Seattle and San Francisco airports are the only ones with significant traffic.
The article also cites a Homeland Security report which discovered that investigators were able to smuggle a test bomb past security checkpoints in 67 out of 70 tests.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/05/19/airports-are-fed-up-with-tsa-heres-why-it-will-be-hard-to-break-up-with-them.html
Especially to the fact that these private companies are hired by the TSA
Obviously since something is easy and sensible it will never be done but for 15K I'll take a whack at it.
To speed up the lines, get rid of the TSA.
It's that simple.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Now in summer 2016, the TSA recommends arriving three hours early instead of a mere two.
Drive to your destination -- even if it's overseas.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
They're hiring actors for security theater.
The only thing the private sector can do more efficiently here is maintain good contacts with agents and friendly relations with the acting unions.
private TSA
Because then they don't have power over us and they can't whine that they need all sorts of extra funding. They also refuse to return to only using the magnetometer instead of the nudie scanners or they insist on groping everybody's privates. And yet they are as effective as Walmart door-greeters when it comes to actual security. So why don't we just hire Walmart door greeters with the magnetometer to use, and be done with it?
Abolish the money drain security theater that is the TSA and let the airports go back to using security methods that were shown to be more effective. Keep DHS as merely a top-level organization and make use of air marshals as has been the standard. Use best practices that have been shown to work, and abandon the costly, ineffective, dangerous (unregulated x-ray), and intrusive methods that do not improve safety.
Yes how entitled of us to expect that the TSA improve their procedures as time goes on, instead it gets even more inefficient! Last I checked us entitled slashdot users can't drive to Hawaii or any other place outside the continental US. But hey, thanks for your valuable input TSA agent.
The ability to do exactly what the TSA does, only faster and cheaper, seems to be the major draw.
I'm sure it's easy to hire people to harass travelers and waste their time for less than the government pays.
offered $15,000 to anybody who could come up with an idea to speed up airport security
Shut down all the "security" theater. Shut down the TSA. Shut down the whole DHS.
That will not only speed things up at airports, but it will result in a huge improvement in the quality of our lives, with the added benefit of saving some money.
That's a win/win/win for everyone.
The logical answer is that the TSA has done very little to improve security. It's an "improvement" over the previous maligned standards when airports just hired incompetent people to run metal detectors, and every airport had different levels of security. Where we are now, every airport has the same level of minimum standards, due to still having TSA personal managing them.
Yet, the problem is that people are choosing to fly. Sure, it might be faster, but only if you are flying somewhere that you can't drive to in 6 hours. For most of us that means flying is no longer reasonable in-state. Amtrak is faster. In fact you can not fly any faster than you can take the train for any in-state destinations, pretty much everywhere except Texas and California, or Canada for that matter (Canada has no rail service outside of the Toronto-Montreal corridor, it is cheaper and faster to go to Seattle and take the Empire Builder to Chicago and then switch trains than it is to The Canadian from Vancouver to Toronto directly.)
Here's how I'd solve it. Bear with me...
Remove ALL TSA, Metal detectors, x-ray machines, drug/bomb sniffing machines and dogs, and instead push this towards Luggage handling. Allow no carry-on, everyone gets an airline-provided spandex/cotton catsuit with the logo of the airline and flight number that they must be wearing when they come to the gate or they will be turned away. Once onboard they may use the onboard entertainment services only. All cell phones and laptops are stored in checked luggage, and anything emitting radiowaves is not permitted.
Luggage handling:
- Suitcase: Charge $50, if it emits radio waves, $150
- Smaller personal items (normally carry-on) $25, emits radio waves $150
- Anything that triggers a search alarm on the x-ray conveyor belt will be tagged with a search notice, and the passenger will be required to use the onboard entertainment to watch the luggage be searched. If they refuse or ignore it, then the luggage will be searched without their consent and charged an additional $50 if anything is held. If they watch it, they can confirm what objects are removed and what to do with them (eg hold (will be left at the airport until picked up,) destroy, mail (will be mailed back to the owner.)
The point of all this is to get people to not take anything with them to their destination, and to "mail back" anything they buy at their destination. Wearing the airline-provided suits is the best, although most embarrassing way to speed up the inspection because that makes it so people can only hide things up their ass, and are taking a risk to do so. No need for a TSA grope.
Here's a better idea: go fuck yourself.
The TSA hasn't caught any terrorists yet. It's expensive, intrusive, and useless. Not only that, since a perp could just wander into the midst of several thousand people and blow them up while the TSA is making them stand in serpentine lines waiting for the bullshit obedience ritual, the TSA is only increasing the danger to the traveling public.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Programs that purport to keep us safer are little more than programs to steal our money. Through threat of government violence and theft we're forced to submit to taxes which do nothing more than benefit private individuals and corporations. We need to end this security theatre. Put responsibility for oneself back into the peoples hands. We should get rid of funding public programs of any sorts. Nobody should have there livelihoods stolen from them for "security" (which is really little more than security theatre). We should get rid of social security, TSA, FBI, state police, mandatory health insurance, mandatory vehicular insurance, mandatory vehicular registration, mandatory drivers licenses, taxes, and all the other things the government mandates. Let people hire there own security, pay for there own children’s education, and so on. The cost of government is extraordinary, unnecessary, and little more than security theatre. I have no problem being charitable. We've had charity longer than we've had government programs stealing funds in the name of charity. Charity is worth something when it actually goes to the mission at hand. But my neighbours certainly don't need government schooling. They can cover these costs if only the government hadn't stolen the money from them in the first place.
Escape to Keene, New Hampshire: Where freedom lovers from all walks of life are migrating to overthrow the violence that is (and new Hampshire in general). We don't need government. Lets just end it.
www.freestateproject.org www.freekeene.com www.freetalklive.com
Seeing as how the TSA has never once prevented a single act of terror, consistently fails field tests and creates larger and larger delays and inconveniences for travelers ranging from hours long lines to outright assault, theft and harassment -- at what point do we the people demand an end to this costly charade?
Your idea is simple but is too costly to implement. We are talking about billions of dollars (was it $4b/year just for screening?) of "cost" (i.e. not ending up in the right pockets).
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
I can arrive at my local, SF Bay Area commuter airport, drive straight up to my plane, pull the plane out, park in the hangar, taxi and be in LA, Reno or Las Vegas usually before a commercial flight takes off. People keep saying that General Aviation is suffering but it's only because people are willing to deal with 3 hour waits for security.
I rarely need to go across the country. You'll never see me at SFO, SJC or OAK for anyplace that I can fly to in less than a tank of gas for my private plane...
Well, airport security is now something I consider before flying.
And I once chose a 24h bus trip over a 2h flight and airport security was one of the reason I made this choice. Price was similar.
Increase the number of checkpoints and screeners?
Do I win?
wasn't that one of the reasons given for forming the TSA in the first place? Better efficiency? The TSA was going to replace those inefficient, untrained, low paid knuckleheads with....inefficient, untrained HIGH paid government knuckleheads. All the while, they would create another bureaucratic tar pit with a multi-billion dollar annual budget.
Folks - this is why our infrastructure is falling apart and our schools are going to shit. It is not because there is not enough money. It is because of how the money gets spent. There is zero accountability. The TSA is yet another perfect example of this. It is a failed experiment. Were this a private company it would be abandoned, with a follow up study and lessons learned. In government they just throw more (of our) money at it.
This is why whenever the government wants to launch yet another massive program (be it Obamacare or what have you) I am flatly against it. Why? Because they have shown time and time again that they are incapable of managing anything of scale without it turning into a bottomless pit.
Clearly the long wait times are the passengers fault. If people would quit waiting around to get on the 3 out of 70 planes that don't have bombs on them, everything would go much faster.
Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
No need to scare them away. After 9/11 nobody expects a hijacking to be a flight to Havana and an inconvenient delay. Passengers will kill the next terrorists before they can get into the cockpit or light their underpants on fire.
Have gnu, will travel.
I know a guy who couldn't hold a job even at Target, Wendy's, corner gas station... Now he works for the TSA.
He's not making fat cash, but this is a guy who wasn't even capable of working at Target as a shelf stocker and now he's working at security checkpoints. If I thought the TSA actually did anything I'd be horrified.
And they're union (I don't think union is automatically bad, but government and union is the worst possible combo), so performance is a joke and he can't get fired short of doing something blatantly illegal (and maybe not even then). Luckily he's just dumb, not crooked, but there are plenty of low class criminals working for TSA. Sometimes they even get caught.
Citation required
I can tell you We just need all airplane travelers to strip down naked and spread checks. Is is extremely difficult to conduct a proper non-naked 'pat down'. My job required me to do it. An effective pat down that would detect a razor blade would take about 20 minutes. If you really want security, you need naked travelers. Of coarse this will never happen because it would mean evil white men would see women and children naked. You will get more jail time and more hatred directed at you for seeing a naked female baby than you will for trying to blow up a plane. We could have separate planes for women, men and children, but I don't think the business interests would not consider this viable. Since we can not really ensure the safety of the plane, we need to say fuck it. Let's arm all passengers. That way the 'terrorists' know that there is no way to keep a plane 'hostage'. Terrorist should know that if you blow up their plane the USA will track down your parents, your children, and anyone you have ever loved and kill them in a long slow painful process that goes on for decades. Make terrorism disadvantageous to the terrorist. Don't punish everyone who is not a terrorist.
-This post has been sponsored by Coke-Cola(tm). If you disagree with it, you should stop drinking coke and drink a more politically correct beverage that agrees with your more sensible ingrained opinions ( ugh I meant correct view of the world)
Really sunshine, I'm not going to quit signing my posts no matter how snotty you get about it. Get some serious professional help.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
> 1. Stop patting down infants and old, white grandmothers in wheelchairs from Kansas.
Of course, it's the black, brown and yellow grandmothers who we have to keep an eye out for.
TSA checkpoints are now filled with just as many if not more people than an airplane. Think about it from TSA and airlines perspective. If something does happen at a checkpoint at least a plane isn't damaged. The cost is measured in human life not including the plane. Therefore airlines don't give a shit about it. Theoretically, it's possible the TSA and all security/surveillance agencies across the world would dramatically benefit from such an incident.
The TSA hasn't caught any terrorists yet. It's expensive, intrusive, and useless.
The purpose of the screenings is not to "catch terrorists" but to deter the terrorists from even trying. I am not say that the TSA is effective, I am just saying that the lack of arrested terrorists isn't proof that they aren't.
Exactly. This and the lock on cockpit door is all that was needed.
If programs would be read like poetry, most programmers would be Vogons.
To speed up the lines, get rid of the TSA.
Even if the TSA is practically useless, at least it scares away most people having bad intentions, including terrorists.
This is easily tested. Pick one major airport and remove TSA screening from it. Fall back to standard security such as metal detectors and explosive particle detectors as people walk through. Let people bring toothpaste and bottled water. Finally, count the number of successful terrorist bombings/hijackings that happen through that airport over the next year. If it's zero, expand the experiment.
Frankly the TSA could continue to draw their paychecks by simply charging a "TSA-free" surcharge at the airports they're not at.
I'm a simple guy, but it's nerve-wracking passing through US airports simply because I realize that all it takes is someone to misunderstand a gesture, or to mis-hear something I say that rhymes with something naughty ("no, officer, I said 'get your Mom', not 'set your bomb'!") and I'll end up missing my flight, plus get stuck on some "person of interest" list for life. The most negative thing I have any interest in doing while in a US airport is leave the country, but still I'm nervous.
"Oh no... he found the
At least SFO and few other airports no longer require to take off your shoes.
BTW If you want a check to be deterrent you can simply just use it on 10% of the passengers. Like the shoe check for example. Uncertainty is still sufficient deterrent and it will speed up the lines quite a bit. I would even go as far as simply just screen 10% of the passengers for anything. The checks could be much more thorough, just like we do with the customs. There is no reason why the model that works for customs should not be replicated for the security checks.
If programs would be read like poetry, most programmers would be Vogons.
What service do you use that maps bus routes? Google transit won't give me any routes. I know that the local bus line makes runs to the major bus lines like greyhound but google can't find it.
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
Flight 93
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
The organization of idiots needs to be shut down as it adds no value to travelers.
It does provide "make work jobs" to the inept though.
Replace them with someone in private industry if we have to have them.
It's still idiotic at that. The thing that made another 9/11-style attack impossible was not the TSA, DHS, or even the strengthened cockpit doors. It's the fact that post-9/11 a hijacking doesn't mean an inconvenient side trip and valium-laced pizza. It means the plane is going to be flown into a building, killing everybody... unless people onboard stop it. Passengers have already ganged up and *killed* would-be copycats who've tried to break into airplane cockpits.
And it wouldn't matter a whit if the knuckle draggers could stop every single weapon going through security. The 9/11 attackers used box cutters, sure. Well, the last time I flew, I treated myself to a post-security breakfast of steak and eggs. The knife they gave me for my steak was not the best steak knife I've used. But it was perfectly cromulent to the task, would have made for a better weapon than box cutters, and would have been trivial to take from the restaurant and onto the plane. Or what if the terrorist simply had an accomplice get a job working as, say, a janitor post-security. Imagine the two most common cleaning chemicals, mixed, in a closed environment such as an airplane.
Imagine all the people...
...Buy more explosives checkers, and get ones so sensitive they'll detect the explosives inside a firearm cartridge loaded inside a gun. Don't look for the metal. Look for the cartridge.
In any system, there are always two complementary failure modes. We call these "type 1" and "type 2" errors. For example, a switch can fail open (does not conduct when it should conduct) or closed (conducts when it is not supposed to conduct).
For a detector, the error types are "false negative", failing to detect an explosive that is there, and "false positive"-- detecting an explosive when one is not there.
It's easy to make a detective super sensitive. Of course, this means that the false positive rate will be astronomical.
Sounds like a very expensive tiger-repelling rock.
The United States isn't the only country in the world with airport security. In fact, the US has forced most countries to implement similar security measures--or face not having international flights to the United States.
And yet, Europe, Canada, and many others have security systems that work (and meet US standards) without significant delays.
Perhaps the TSA could take a look at what is done in these countries.
For example, in Holland, security clearing is done at the gate just before you get on the plane. This means that there is a lot more room for security and not one central choke point.
Terrorists are not normal people. They have super human powers. A pair of tweezers and a small bottle of water is all it takes for them to blow an Airplane out of the sky. How they do it is, of course, top secret.
That is why merely bolting the cabin doors is not sufficient. Every passenger needs to be thoroughly searched, inside and out. Just looking for guns and explosives is not nearly enough. A pair of tweezers hidden in a terrorist's shoe is all that it takes.
We've already seen this happen with the guy who was dubbed the underwear bomber. A Dutch passenger jumped the attacker and detained him.
""Two years ago the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) offered $15,000 to anybody -- literally anybody -- who could come up with an idea to speed up airport security..." writes Popular Science."
So if someone did come up with such a great idea, why not implement it themselves and make more than a relatively paltry $15K for coming up with an idea of that could save millions.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
Any time you think that private industry sucks and such and such needs to be taken over or regulated to the point of virtual takeover by the government. It's not that the government is inherently incompetent, but they lack the crucible of the market. Do you really think the government would be this bad with the TSA but somehow get universal healthcare, child protective services, or anything else right? Some thing really do just HAVE to be done by government. Government should just stick to those.
If I pay for something, I had better damned well receive my product or service. That includes paying for transport.
Since you're either just a child or a burger flipper, you wouldn't understand the necessity of flying for us successful adults with personal and business obligations.
Bullshit. Many people have been able to get banned items through TSA without much, if any, effort. That includes blades, guns and bombs.
In fact, due to the large backup created by security theatre, a terrorist could simply suicide bomb the checkpoints and wipe out more people than would be on an airplane.
Frequent fliers should sell their house or move out of their apartment, rent space at the terminal, and just live there.
Strange, back when the connies were flying it used to take more or less eight hours to get from LA to New York. And here we are over fifty years into the jet age, and now it takes that long again.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
It also scares away people having good intentions.
I'd rather walk than fly in the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave".
Passengers have already ganged up and *killed* would-be copycats who've tried to break into airplane cockpits.
Only once that I can find. Not exactly a stirring testament.
TSA is an expensive and stupid way of doing it then.
Just put out a news report every two or three weeks that someone carrying *some form of contraband* was arrested at an airport today. Have some official stand in front of a camera and laughingly say that "yep, someone tried to get x past our new screening technology today but of course, we caught them".
The only one who needs serious help, sunshine, is you. The dude who thinks that he's being cool and/or professional by "signing" his post with the same damn name that's 5 lines above.
We can see your user name, we know who took the time to type out that comment. Get over yourself. You're not helping anyone.
Don't know about you, but I sure appreciate being able to turn the tap on after I've flushed your bullshit ideas down the toilet.
90% of it is Security Theatre to get people flying. Politicians only care about what 50% + 1 of the voting public thinks and reacts to - not what actually works.
The only thing the TSA gorillas are achieving is to make tourists stop visiting the US.
Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
The TSA hasn't caught any terrorists yet. It's expensive, intrusive, and useless.
The purpose of the screenings is not to "catch terrorists" but to deter the terrorists from even trying. I am not say that the TSA is effective, I am just saying that the lack of arrested terrorists isn't proof that they aren't.
Except every year there's a study published where the DHS or FBI or whoever tried to sneak stuff past the TSA, and >95% of it gets through.
Those are pretty good odds for a terrorist. If there really are that many just dying to get on planes and do whatever, surely some would try with those awesome odds. Either that, or all these terrorists are complete idiots.
And really, they'd have to be an idiot to try to get on a plane to try to cause terror. As many have noted, they could blow up something outside the security zone in an airport and probably cause more mayhem (since they could likely bring more explosives than they could ever get past security in a small bag). Or they could blow up something somewhere else -- like a bus, or a mall, or a crowd, or whatever. Or skip the bomb and do something less predictable... does no one remember after 9/11 when everyone was concerned about various "soft targets"? Like poisoning a water treatment plant for a city. Or blowing up a train track and derailing it. Or whatever. The media talked about this stuff on the news for months after 9/11, because if there were so many terrorists, that's the sort of stuff they'd logically go to, rather than trying to get through airport security.
And yet, no terrorists. No bridges or malls or trains or buses blowing up, no water being poisoned, etc.
If this huge number of terrorists ready to attack the U.S. actually exists, they must be complete morons who have a weird "airplane fetish" and are for some bizarre reason cowed into submission by the 5% chance they might have their bomb discovered by the TSA.
It makes no logical sense. Sure, it's not "proof" in the formal logic sense, but it makes the whole idea that there are this huge number of terrorists out there seem rather silly.
That's exactly what I've been doing for the past few years. Avoiding the US. All my tourism and shopping dollars are going elsewhere.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Confirming that this is true. I used to go to the US at least once a year, every year. I haven't been for 5 or 6 years and I actively seek flights that bypass the US hubs.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
I wouldn't consider the people going into jobs to get rich and fuck over everybody else as our best and brightest nor would I want them teaching. These people are scum.
90% of it is Security Theatre to get people flying. Politicians only care about what 50% + 1 of the voting public thinks and reacts to - not what actually works.
To get people flying? the incredible indignity, and waiting and hassles, of this is what caused me to stop flying. Last flight I took was in 2002, and although I love the experience of flying, stopping flying has actually been pretty enjoyable. I don't miss it at all.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
At least he's willing to state who he is, unlike you who are an Anonymous Coward. One who enjoys boot-licking I should add, if you're the same one as OP in this thread.
[not in citation]
Seconded, added to the fact that US Immigration seems unable to accept that some people actually come to the US for tourism or business and not to over-stay their visas. All-in-all, flying into, out of, and around the USA is a truly ghastly experience.
If you don't like it, don't fly. The sense of entitlement among Slashdot users is ridiculous. Take an Amtrak, a bus, or drive.
Yeah, next time I go from here in Honolulu to the mainland I'll take Amtrak. Brilliant concept.
Literally just did a 14 hour drive this last weekend over a 2 hour flight. Airlines are loosing serious money because of the TSA.
I'd fly once a month or more if it weren't for the TSA and I work for the government at the moment!
This needs a serious rethink. Everyone seems to want "bulletproof" security. Well, we don't have that now and we're wasting millions of hours of travelers time. And yet... flying isn't really all that dangerous. Each bombing is terrible, obviously. But there haven't been that many of them, and we catch a lot of the terrorists mid-flight.
Several of the really high-profile flight disasters in recent years haven't even been the stereotypical terrorist. Two have been inside jobs by the flight crew (one confirmed, one suspected).
So let's rearrange our priorities. First, every flight leaves on time except for weather or mechanical delays. Second, no passenger needs to arrive more than 30 minutes before departure domestically, or one hour internationally. Third, wait for it, we end all luggage searches. Hear me out. Fourth, we dramatically increase the number of Air Marshalls. Put them on all international and 2/3 of domestic flights. Make it much more dangerous for terrorists to try a bombing.
Instead of having a gated security checkpoint, we have free-roaming security people. They randomly stop people and search them, as well as doing targeted searches. Set a standard, say a minimum of 10-15% of all passengers get searched. It can be higher but that's the minimum.
How much do you want to bet, such a system could meet the standard of being able to smuggle a test bomb past security checkpoints in 67 out of 70 tests? For the record, our existing system is only successful at detecting test bombs, 4.3% of the time. And yet flying is still relatively safe. So that's as high a security performance level as we need to achieve.
Our air transport safety system needs a serious rethink. We inconvenience, delay and annoy our average flying passenger for terrible, awful, totally unacceptable levels of achieved security. Untold hundreds of millions are spent to achieve mediocrity. So ditch that idea and make flying convenient again. Only the TSA and stuffy, stodgy, bureaucratic thinkers will hate this new idea.
No wonder security now is fast as fuck. Not,
Private business is "faster and cheaper" than government, really? If only the USA had politicians who stood for 'little government'. Wait, they're the very politicians who socialized airport security and created this mess. Private enterprise is cheaper because they lose customers if they don't stay lean and mean. It's not perfect but most of the time, it works. Government can always say "Not my fucking problem", which sooner or later, wastes time and money.
Dumb? The last TSA agent gave me a colonoscopy and a clean bill of health after that. Didn't even ask for my insurance card.
Maybe we should merge TSA with ObamaCare and save money in the long run. Jokes aside, we as Americans are fucked either way.
Post about privatization of TSA screeners, and then link to a report done in 2015 about failures of government TSA agents to detect a bomb.
So this spring the Seattle-Tacoma airport replaced many of the TSA staff with private screeners, although "Private security operates under strict direction from the TSA, and even those airports that heavily utilize private contractors still have a lot of TSA personnel in the back rooms..." according to the article. "The ability to do exactly what the TSA does, only faster and cheaper, seems to be the major draw." Now 22 U.S. airports are using private screeners, although the Seattle and San Francisco airports are the only ones with significant traffic.
The article also cites a Homeland Security report which discovered that investigators were able to smuggle a test bomb past security checkpoints in 67 out of 70 tests.
Given that the salaries are already $14k-$29k +/- regional adjustments for TSO's, what makes the private contractors any better? You're going to get even less motivated individuals given that contractors would expect a cut out of the already-abysmally low wage, never mind the higher instability of a contract job.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
It still bothers me how many Americans still accept their government's version of 9/11. It acceptance around the world is no where near as high as it is in America.
I clearly must be doing something wrong. I frequently travel to the US from Europe and have hardly ever had any trouble getting in or out. In comparison with the shenanigans at some European airports (Italy, France, I'm looking at you), I'm not sure I see why the US is seen to be so much worse.
The dude who thinks that he's being cool
So, you're in a snit because of the motivations that you imagine and assign to me?
Discuss that with a therapist.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
This article was written in April. Since then, the TSA did a lot of hiring, and the long lines are gone. Yes, they messed up, and their role is a bit dubious, but if we're going to trash the TSA, let's at least take into account the improvements they HAVE made!
Informative, really? I thought the solution to that problem was to close the fucking cockpit door during flight?
No need to do that. They could look at literally the rest of the world, most of which do not engage in the same security shenanigans as the US is.
Given the numerous times when the security screening or testing has proven to be almost entirely pointless or even acutely dangerous...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3105820/EXPOSED-dozens-explosives-weapons-TSA-checkpoints-95-PERCENT-undercover-airport-tests.html ... I think the best thing to do is to acknowledge that security screening is effectively pointless and, under peak times, simply allow people to rush through using the old fashioned metal detector and bag scan method, forego the shoe / underpants search, cand just carry on regardless.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/news/dutch-journalist-takes-fake-bomb-on-plane/2008/02/07/1202234003407.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/slovak-security-test-leaves-explosive-on-plane-1.898278
Naturally this will never happen so the best thing to do is to continue to tout the massive success of the program as a whole (look at all those nail clippers, stacks of them!) and ignore the fact that it's completely pointless and just keep ruining peoples trips.
To be fair to the GP, only a fucking retard signs a letter that puts their name and company at the top in the letterhead.
See how that works?
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
This reminds me of an old joke.
A man plants little flags on his backyard. His neighbor asks: "Why are you planting little flags?" "To repel the giraffes", he answers. "How do you know it's working?" "Well, have you seen any giraffes?"
Go back to reasonable searches and stop being shit scared of everyone. Now, where do I get my cheque?
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If you don't like it, don't fly. The sense of entitlement among Slashdot users is ridiculous. Take an Amtrak, a bus, or drive.
Yeah, next time I go from here in Honolulu to the mainland I'll take Amtrak. Brilliant concept.
Get a boat?
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Informative, really? I thought the solution to that problem was to close the fucking cockpit door during flight?
Yeah but then that other guy used that to crash his jet into a mountain so.......
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You don't have to get rude.
Exactly. This and the lock on cockpit door is all that was needed.
...was all that German guy needed to keep the other pilot out while he casually crashed into a mountain. Is that the lock you mean?
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The only thing the TSA gorillas are achieving is to make tourists stop visiting the US.
Yeah. I used to really wanna go. Now? No fucking way. Definitely not on a holiday out of my own pocket, maybe for work if I got paid extra. Not just because of the TSA but a whole bunch of reasons.
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He is right though. You have your name at the top, and you have a signature part at the bottom, yet you write in -jcr everytime. Why not just put that in your sig? Not that I give a shit but it is pointless.
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To be fair to someone other than you, only a fucking retard thinks that conventions dating back to the days of feathers dipped in soot apply to modern communications.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
So conventions of spelling, sentence structure and such don't apply on the internet?
You know, that explains SO MUCH.
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
Me too, it's quite sad. I have quite a few USA friends, but I'm damned if I'm signing up for another expulsion like last time. ...
I was categorically informed that I was lucky to NOT be housed in a regular prison until they put me on a plane back to where I came from.
I don't need to risk an arse-raping just because I want to go my friend's wedding
I don't even bother thinking about visiting Canada, since they use the same system. ...
Damn shame.
Thankfully, there's plenty more of the planet worth a visit
Fuck the American military and the American congress - you guys are history anyway, since the Chinese have started dumping your currency wholesale .... ... and they're not alone ... ... the void beckons :)
No need to do that. They could look at literally the rest of the world, most of which do not engage in the same security shenanigans as the US is.
Sure, except the rest of the world isn't the United States. They're an exceptional target, right?
"Oh no... he found the
I recently flew to Europe and the checks in Europe are reasonable and thus quite fast. In the US you have to get to a rather needless state of undress, pass soft x-ray machines, get a pat down, and potentially get elected for further search. In Europe, you can keep your shoes on, pass through a metal detector, and if that does not sound an alarm you grab your stuff and move on. All these TSA checks are totally over the top, time consuming, and with little to no effect beyond what was done before. Plus, plenty of times the checks are proven to be ineffective. Even worse is immigrations. In Europe they check your passport, if that does not come up on a list as flagged they wish you a good day and you are on your way. In the US, you get to fill out custom forms, then answer tons of questions at a kiosk, then scan in every passport document you may have, then try ten times until that automatic camera manages to take your picture, and if you happen to be a legal resident you get fingerprinted yet again. You get a receipt and then walk up to an officer who except for the picture does exactly the same stuff that they always did. So why did I have to fight for ten minutes with a badly designed kiosk app? All that does not curb any bad things from happening and only increases the lengths of the lines. So, how about US officials get their act together and keep only those checks that indeed accomplish something and get rid of everything else. Paying the TSA clerks more than minimum wage will also help. TSA is the largest government employment program the US has ever seen. A lot of money spent with not much to show for.
Note that the 9/11 terrorists selected their departure airport carefully. Boston was already _infamous_ among American airports for having untrained, overworked, underpaid, incompetent airport security personnel.
This is not to support the TSA's expensive and fraudulently advertised radiation based scanning, nor to support the genuinely physically invasive searches and abuse of passengers that has occurred under their more rigorous searches. But the handling of private contractors is rife with opportunities to let security systems fail very badly indeed.
Perhaps you are caucasian and has rich man appearance
Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
Security theater doesn't get people to fly. Bosses, prestige, or significant others who don't want to sit in a car for more than 5 hours gets people to fly (since 5 hours is usually about the cutoff to where driving can make more sense than flying if it only takes 5 hours to drive).
"There are a dozen opinions on a matter until you know the truth. Then there is only one." - CS Lewis (paraprhase)
Well, if the pilot wants to kill you, you're screwed. Duh. Anything else new?
There are certain things you cannot protect yourself against. But it is absolutely and positively certain that no terrorist passenger will EVER again crash land a plane in a building. It's just like the trojan horse. The first was a huge success. The trick hasn't ever worked since.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
No.
The goal of terrorism is to strike fear into the hearts of the enemies. And for Islamist terrorism, that's pretty much the whole world. Yes, including Muslim countries for being not Muslim enough. No true Muslim country allows US military bases on its soil and all that.
The US sure are a main target, but by no means the only one. If anything, striking at other countries would make a lot more sense, the US are already quite successfully cowed into crapping their pants 'til it comes out the neck, it's the rest of the world that still doesn't fear Islamism enough.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
You may have an idea there...
How about the TSA stop checking people that don't need to be checked? If you're transiting from one (reasonably organised) country to another, then no need to go through security again (or go via a fast track that has less checks)? The US has special secure areas at some non-US airports because they have their own special checks - surely they are secure enough not to have to recheck all the people on transit.
Years ago, I traveled to Canada via the US with a buddy of mine. He got an extra frisk 3 times before we got to Security (in Heathrow, UK). Even though we were traveling together, I only got the standard check at security. I was left wondering what the first frisk missed that it needed repeating two more times just to be sure. Why not just train the first guy to be better at his job (and arguably frisk me at the same time) rather than have the other two goons?
If they've been running a competition for a 'solution' to their problems and haven't found a winner yet, then they aren't listening. There's got to be a thousand ways to improve whilst making them more effective and do so at less cost/inconvenience.
Well, if the pilot wants to kill you, you're screwed. Duh. Anything else new?
True enough but my point was what would have saved the day one time cost it another. It would have been a lot harder for that guy to do that had the door been less secure but then it wouldn't be much cop at keeping terrorists out so it's a catch 22. It's obvious why it's the way it is, just saying.
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what a load of BS
The GOP in congress refuses to fund zika (!!!!)
They refuse to fund TSA, which has been swamped by the rise in air travel which stems from the improving economy
This is like clinton coverage (see paul krugmans column in n y times today)
total complete utter bs
It's just like the trojan horse. The first was a huge success. The trick hasn't ever worked since.
Ahem. You might be surprised.
Apparently you've not heard of the VIPR Program.
What exactly happened ?
Probability is not on your side. You have 3-4 people in the cockpit and approximately 300 outside. Of those 3-4 inside, they are thoroughly screened and had a lot of training and examination, the 300 outside not so much.
Your chance to avoid disaster is higher by keeping that door locked.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
It's obvious why it's the way it is, just saying.
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I wouldn't call Slashdot comments "communications." I think flatulence is a better fit.
Maybe he says it offline, too. Leroy Jenkins style. Or worse, Bob Dole style.
Not so much. For most foreign tourists, the real pain is passport control. I flew in to San Jose two weeks ago on a 789 from London. There were about two hundred non-US citizens in a single line to see a single border guard, who was taking an average 7 minutes to process each person. I was near the front and got away with only a 45 minute wait, but I shudder to think how long the folks at the back would have to wait. I'm sure that once the US citizens were all processed, the guards would start processing non-US, but I still think it would be a four or five hour wait for many. That is beyond ridiculous.
What, exactly, are you getting at with that non-statement?
This kind of muscular stupidity is really fucking irritating. Intent is not that important. The Israelis stopped a young pregnant woman from boarding a plane in 1986. She'd been duped into carrying a bomb by her boyfriend.
I've flown out of Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Nashville, San Francisco, Seattle, and the longest it ever took me to get from curb to past security was maybe 10 minutes. Usually there is little to no wait.
I am probably just spending too much time under my aluminum foil hat, but it seems like the TSA doesn't care that the lines are long- or really care if the people in the lines get blown up. They are there to protect the airline industry and the revenue. Contractors are a cost savings, just like they are in the IT world. It is not done to optimize the screening process, but to reduce to the costs. Government won't change it now, because the next incident after the TSA is disbanded will be blamed on the party in charge at the time. We are all going to have to learn to love it. It is not going to change in the next 10 years.
The TSA hasn't caught any terrorists yet. It's expensive, intrusive, and useless.
The purpose of the screenings is not to "catch terrorists" but to deter the terrorists from even trying. I am not say that the TSA is effective, I am just saying that the lack of arrested terrorists isn't proof that they aren't.
There was a guy on a train with sheets of paper in his hand. Every so often he'd tear off a piece of paper, roll it into a ball and throw it out the window. Curious, I asked him why he was doing this.
He: "It keeps the tigers away."
Me: "Don't be silly there aren't any tigers here!"
He: "See! It works!"
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
It also scares away people having good intentions.
I'd rather walk than fly in the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave".
I just assumed that the 'Brave' the song mentions were the Native American warriors.
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
I haven't been to the US since they stepped up "security" either. I have got family over there, which I visited twice before that, but never since.
It also scares away people having good intentions.
I'd rather walk than fly in the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave".
I just assumed that the 'Brave' the song mentions were the Native American warriors.
God damn it, I just love the clever, Twainesque sarcasms of the witty on this site!
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
I fly out of LAX about once a month for work and I have Global Entry aka TSA PreCheck so I can use the fast lane (i.e. pre 9-11 screening). 50% of the time, TSA has failed to make a dedicated PreCheck lane available and instead combines it with one of the regular lanes. Suddenly I have to take out my laptop, liquids, and all that BS to put in a separate bin. Well I, and all the other PreCheck passengers, weren't expecting that. So now us "fast" travelers are holding up the line even more as we root around to pull out our shit for unecessary screening. I couldn't have designed a worse system. In contrast, SFO always has a dedicated lane available and I show up to the airport 5 min before my flight is scheduled to board. It's not fucking rocket science, TSA.
Security theater doesn't get people to fly. Bosses, prestige, or significant others who don't want to sit in a car for more than 5 hours gets people to fly (since 5 hours is usually about the cutoff to where driving can make more sense than flying if it only takes 5 hours to drive).
The cutoff, for me, is ~ 12 hours
I allow for 1 hour to get into the Airport (~35 to 45 minute drive) to allow for traffic. If it's a late night/early morning flight then this is less of a concern. I also then allow for 2 hours in the airport to get through security, etc. Then tack on another 1 hour or so in the airport on the other side (assuming a direct flight) getting your stuff, and getting out to a car and on your way. If it isn't a direct flight, then tack on another 1 to 2 hours just for waiting for the connecting flight. This adds up to between 4 to 6 hours where you could be driving directly to your destination, not including flight time.
For example, from Boston to Knoxville you can:
1. "Fly" for 8.5 hours (4 hours airport, 4.5 hours flight time), pay for a rental (or taxi and public transportation), pay for plane tickets, and watch a movie or read a book while getting there.
2. Drive for 11 to 14 hours (depending on your driving style), have your own car, leave and stop when you want, bring as much crap as you want both to the destination and home with you, etc.
Granted, for most people, the 4 hour airport experience and 4.5 hour flight time is worth it because they don't enjoy driving enough to be a in car for 12 hours. They still see that as worse than the Airport/Airplane experience. Personally, I enjoy driving. Don't get me wrong, I like flying too. I've traveled internationally enough to have gotten good at it. But for destinations around 12 hours away by car, I would rather drive.
And yes, I've thought about this way too much... (grin)
No.
The goal of terrorism is to strike fear into the hearts of the enemies. And for Islamist terrorism, that's pretty much the whole world. Yes, including Muslim countries for being not Muslim enough. No true Muslim country allows US military bases on its soil and all that.
The US sure are a main target, but by no means the only one. If anything, striking at other countries would make a lot more sense, the US are already quite successfully cowed into crapping their pants 'til it comes out the neck, it's the rest of the world that still doesn't fear Islamism enough.
I mean this in the nicest possible way: WOOOOOSH.
The government of the US believes that they are an exceptional target. They need the TSA when nobody else does. The boogeyman terrorists what dead Americans, and other countries not needing the TSA only demonstrates that those countries aren't as threatened as the US, not that the US isn't threatened.
"Oh no... he found the
To be honest, the TSA is about as effective at stopping terrorism as police are at deterring crime.
See the reports of how often teams were able to smuggle test bombs and weapons through TSA security to understand how effective they are.
I am far more concerned with the theft problem with airport employees than I am with terrorism. Odds of my getting on a plane with a terrorist are laughable in comparison to the odds my high $ camera gear actually surviving a run through any given airport and their trustworthy staff :|
1. Abolish TSA and use simple scanners. 2. Use secure cockpit doors PLUS a red button that any flight attendant can trigger that requests immediate safe landing and that shuts down all communication with cockpit until landing.
I just left a travelling consulting position after 9 years, and the grind of travel was a major part of my reason for leaving. I have said the same thing for years: super-expensive, dealing with McIdiots, being irradiated, and no significant benefit to anyone except terrorists who now have a convenient corral of unarmed people to victimize. Why the f*ck are we paying for this again?
Fucktard.
How much buisness are the US airlines losing because flying is only worth it for 300+ mile journeys? how much are they losing because people chose routes that avoid the US?
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
Why would you want to leave Hawaii?
Hell, they don't even need to actually blow up a bomb. All they have to do is play gunshot noises loudly in a crowd and shout about a shooter. We saw that can do at JFK recently.
Well, isn't that their job? Their whole mandate is to stop tourists! And they're damned good at it! They... Wait, what? "Terrorists?" They're supposed to stop terrorists, not tourists? Shit, somebody better tell them that...
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
echo "replace those inefficient, untrained, low paid knuckleheads with....inefficient, untrained HIGH paid government knuckleheads" > /etc/qotd
His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
It still bothers me how many Americans still accept their government's version of 9/11. It acceptance around the world is no where near as high as it is in America.
WTF are you talking about? Nobody has given me this report. I didn't sign off on it. There is no consequence one way or the other to me choosing to accept or reject it, so why would I? Nobody is going to stand up and fix the TSA if I declare that I don't accept it.
Most people are not breathlessly interested in these things. We have lives to get on with.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
Granted, for most people, the 4 hour airport experience and 4.5 hour flight time is worth it because they don't enjoy driving enough to be a in car for 12 hours. They still see that as worse than the Airport/Airplane experience. Personally, I enjoy driving. Don't get me wrong, I like flying too. I've traveled internationally enough to have gotten good at it. But for destinations around 12 hours away by car, I would rather drive.
And yes, I've thought about this way too much... (grin)
I seem to do fine arriving 1 hour before the flight. So that's 30-45 minutes before boarding starts. 10 minutes through the pre-check line worst case, a few minutes to get a coffee and then start boarding.
Maybe it's my airport, but I don't think so. We've taken a 2 day drive in the past instead of flying, but that was a nice drive. The decision to fly is based on multiple criteria.. is my employer paying? What day of the week is it? What's the relative cost of having my own car at the other end - renting vs petrol costs, do I want to blow my weekend traveling, or take the late flight on Friday instead? Am I visiting a nice city that I'd like a day to see on the weekend?
It's not complicated, but it's more than just time in the airport vs. time on the road.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
Can you imagine what kind of backups we will see at airport security lines when they start dragging giant wooden horses through the metal detectors?
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But what are you trying to fix? No airport would have stopped box cutters pre 9/11; I thought a 4" knife was still ok.
That said, airport security still sucked, screening lines were too long, and the results were inconsistent at best. Not much has changed, beyond the cost.
And yet, no terrorists. No bridges or malls or trains or buses blowing up, no water being poisoned, etc.
Perhaps not in the US, but in Nice, France, there was recently that Tunisian fellow who drove a large truck through a crowd (on the sidewalk) for two kilometers, killing nearly 100 people, and injuring slightly over 200. Pretty good soft target: a diffuse crowd gathered for Bastille Day celebrations. Quite effective terrorism.
Then in the US, there was that couple in San Bernardino who shot up a Christmas party in 2015. Another effective act of terrorism on a soft target.
And the recent shooting in the night club in Florida.
And the Boston Marathon bombing.
Oh, and the ricin mailed to a senator and the US president.
(and there are more)
So what were you saying again?
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
The US has special secure areas at some non-US airports because they have their own special checks - surely they are secure enough not to have to recheck all the people on transit.
Those have been very quietly fading away. Amsterdam Schiphol used to have nude scanners and a mob of TSA agents screening passports to board a flight going to the US. Then the scanners were roped off and unused. Then they were gone and so were the agents. Didn't hear a word about it. They just vanished.
I'm guessing maintaining the tiger-repelling rock got too expensive.
No need to be rude, I'm just floating ideas.
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False. People are sheep and will avoid being gutted like fish even if it means being flown into a building later.
I'll come back to the USA when, and only when, it stops fingerprinting all foreigners on arrival. That's another post-9/11 innovation.
Where I come from, forced interviewing and fingerprinting someone is what you do when you've arrested them. Foreigners flying into the US today are basically volunteering to be arrested.
Fuck that shit.
"The ability to do exactly what the TSA does, only faster and cheaper" - wtf why doesnt the TSA just get faster then... what about being a private security agent make you able to do the same shit faster than a TSA agent? does the TSA only hire cavemen?
They already charge a fee to be nearly TSA-free. It's call TSA Precheck. $75 for 5 years. You get to skip the long long and keep your belt and shoes on.
https://www.tsa.gov/precheck
It is a huge failure as most people who don't fly regularly don't want to be bothered with the fee or the background check hassle. It takes 2-4 months to get it done ahead of time, depending on where you live and your airport, etc.
And yet the USA is still a freer and more prosperous place than your shithole third world country.
Now run along, your Red Cross supplied gruel is getting cold.
So maybe they should take the TSA out of the airports and place them into nightclubs and at marathons where they might not be utterly worthless wastes of life.
Yeah I did, I was in a bod mood and needed to vent. Sorry you were the target of it.
I drive. Sold my 2012 car last year, in May, with 3 years and 1 month on it, and 124,000 miles on the odometer. I get around, and I do it by driving. I got fed up with the TSA a long time ago, and just decided not to be poked, felt-up, x-rayed, or have stuff stolen out of my luggage. Just stuff everything into the trunk and hit the road. No more illegal 4th amendment violations for me.
USA is probably the least free first world country.
The purpose of the screenings is not to "catch terrorists" but to deter the terrorists from even trying.
By creating new targets?
Deterrment, yes. Check for guns, X-Ray the baggage, yes. Maybe some sniff test for explosives. But what is making this ritual so tedious AND useless is this overly specific thing with water bottles and nail clippers. Not to mention undressing while standing in line with hundreds of other people and trying to juggle shoes, belt, jacket, carry on, liquid bag and all the small stuff already removed from your pockets. Not to mention holding up your pants caus ethat belt was there for a friggin reason!
Everything that is small enough to be hidden in a shoe is also small enough to be smuggled past TSA by an acomplice.
bickerdyke
News stations will stand in line to get footage of hundreds confiscated water bottles and nail clippers.
bickerdyke
Or they just noticed that they aren't doing anything else than the Schiphol crew already did.
bickerdyke
The most negative thing I have any interest in doing while in a US airport is leave the country, but still I'm nervous.
That's not negative.
In fact, when I travel to the US, it always chuckels me up that the immigration goon can't wrap his head around the concept that people actually will want to go home again after their holiday.
bickerdyke
#1: How would you recognize muslims?
#2: Oklahoma City bombing
#3 Anders Breivik
Well, you may be true if by "catastrophic act of terror" you're restricting yourself to "planes flown into buildings"
bickerdyke
Counter argument : Flight 181
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
What?! How did I miss that? Sorry I don't know what happened that week but I was unaware that a plane had been hijacked since flight 93. Thank you for pointing that out.
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
Maybe the lines are exactly what is keeping you safe. Would you nervously wait 3 hours in a line just to blow yourself up? Perhaps there has been some intel regarding the increasing patience of would-be bombers. As terrorist patience increases, so must the wait times to ensure they'll give up and find some other route.
It varies massively by airport. Going through Houston on a B777 or B787 from London, I get through passport control before my luggage reaches the carousel every time, and that's been consistent for years. Each non-US citizen passenger gets through in generally less than 2 minutes, and there's always many gates open, so even if you're at the back the wait isn't typically all that long.
Dallas Fort Worth on the other hand... I will never use DFW again.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
I agree about the variance. My pro-tip for people flying into Manhattan was to always choose Newark over JFK, because of the wild difference in immigration lines. Philadelphia is also awful. Orlando is fine.
Avoid big airports with high number of union employees and problem is no more. Only lines for airports are easth coast, LA, Atlanta. No issue with local airport.
That's OK because the USA is the only first world country in existence currently. However bad it is here, it's worse everywhere else.
How do you drive across the ocean? I regularly travel between Europe, Asia, North America and South America and I can't exactly do that with a car.
Seconded @jcr's point (who gives a fuck if he signs or not?), and only an asshole trolls the point.
This comment is my opinion and does not represent an official position of Donald Trump or others I do not work for