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by chevas 3319 days ago
The only constructive thing I can say is that there is no constructive criticism for the TSA. When are we going to put an end to this security theater that has been proven over and over again to do nothing? I stopped flying years ago. Not every one has this luxury.
3 comments
hristov 3319 days ago
This has nothing to do with the TSA. It comes straight from the Department of Homeland Security. The TSA would have to enforce the ban of course, but it ain't their idea.

The whole campaign against the TSA is idiotic and it is entirely based on some people's nefarious plans to replace the TSA at various airports with private companies that will be able to extract monopoly fees from airlines and passengers. Let's not confuse the two issues.

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wahern 3319 days ago
The TSA has permitted use of private companies from the very beginning:

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screening_Partnership_Program
I don't think either airlines or airports wish to get rid of the TSA entirely. The TSA provides a nice excuse for extracting security fees and subsidies from the public. They just want looser rules on screening so they can pocket more of the fees rather than fork them over as wages to screeners.

And in any event, the security theater will remain as cover and a scapegoat for politicians, airports, and airlines in the [inevitable] case of a security breech.

That said, the screening at San Francisco International is managed by a private company and they do a pretty good job, avoiding many of the really stupid problems exposed at airports elsewhere. It's still security theater, but done relatively competently.

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dragonwriter 3319 days ago
> I don't think either airlines or airports wish to get rid of the TSA entirely. The TSA provides a nice excuse for extracting security fees and subsidies from the public.

More importantly, it transfers liability for failures from airlines to the public, which is the major reason the function was nationalized.

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stevehawk 3319 days ago
The problem is this isn't for theater. A Somali passenger plane was bombed this way back in January, and the only reason it didn't cause a loss of life is the person did it at 10,000ft which is too low to cause catastrophic decompression.
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tzs 3318 days ago
> When are we going to put an end to this security theater that has been proven over and over again to do nothing?

It has not been prove to do anything. That's not the same as being proven to do nothing.

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