How many hours does the security theatre have to take before the number of human lives lost waiting in line equals a plane blown up a month?
Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
21–30 of 512 posts
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#22Seems like a perverse incentive to let them slow down the lines so you have to buy a "membership" in their precheck program. "Nice flight you have there...be a shame if you missed it."
Even the precheck lines have gotten out of hand in a few places I've been lately. In some cases it has been slower with so many people signed up and far less capacity to serve them.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#23It's strange that the security lines are suddenly getting worse everywhere, the last several months. I regularly fly Denver->San Jose. While the lines at Denver can be quite awful, I used to be able to count on getting through San Jose security quickly. Lately, though, even San Jose has been getting backed up, and the airport has resorted to putting signs in the security line encouraging passengers to complain to TSA.
I'm quite nervous about what time I need to get to Denver airport tomorrow morning. :(
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#24This, in combination with American airports being completely ignorant to the transit concept must cost American airline companies dozens, if not hundreds of millions a year in lost revenues.
Case in point: if I want to to fly from Zurich to Lima I have essentially two choices: I can connect either in Amsterdam, or in Madrid. Madrids legal connection time is 55 minutes max (on Iberia). In AMS on KLM it's a maximum of 50 minutes.
Another option would be to fly via an US airport. For example Miami. Only that I would have to be crazy.
Start with the fact that I can't check my luggage through to Lima. I must go through immigration in Miami, pick up my luggage, go through customs, re-check my luggage and then endure the security hassle.
Even if the US connection would save me a couple hundred $ I would have to be crazy to chose the hassle, the annoyance and the risk of missing my connection.
And I don't think I'm alone with such thoughts.
Edited: Added actual legal connection times for AMS and MAD
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#25Here's an awesome TSA story for you:
Late last year while trying to fly out of LAX a TSA employee thought I was carrying a throwing star. They called the police, who correctly identified as a toy in seconds.
I thought the whole ordeal was over until I got a "notice of violation" in the mail from TSA 45 days later.
Now I'm banned from pre-check for three years, even though I have global entry and even though the fine was thrown out. It's a kangaroo court were the only two options are you pay the fine or they convert it to a warning.
Some shit head got a gold star for "finding a weapon" and I get fucked.
Please defund these 0-terrorist-catching losers.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#26Some suggestions for how to improve the situation:
1) Set up a large booth where people can sign up for the TSA pre-check program inside the airport, while they are waiting for their delayed flight, etc.
2) Institute fees for carry-on baggage and reduce fees for checked baggage to reduce the number of bags being screened.
3) Have a separate line for passengers with no carry-on bag that moves 5x faster.
4) Publish statistics about security checkpoint failures, and the overall ineffectiveness of the program. Allow public outrage to result in the TSA being shut down.
5) Offer a free, high throughput lane guaranteed to take under 10 minutes, and a slow lane where passengers are given a $10 meal voucher for putting up with the wait, which could be up to 2 hours.
6) Claim victory over terrorism, and drastically scale back the TSA and the foreign wars/occupations.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#27I love how this process was reengineered in London Gatwick airport.
Each scanner has 6 pods where you can pack and unpack your stuff; you've got a dedicated person assigning you to the pod. The process felt much more parallel rather than serial.
Edit: managed to find more info on it http://airlines.iata.org/analysis/smart-security-getting-sma...
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#28I fly out of ewr often, security is fast and easy. What sucks is flight delays.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#29Blaming volume? How about 1) the switch from metal detectors to less numerous and slower body scanners? 2) the allocation of employee resources to the "pre check" line leaving less staff for 90% of travelers. 3) still having to take belts and shoes off even with a full body scan? This program has gotten seriously out of hand and is incredibly frustrating. I don't care if it's 3 hours or "75 minutes" anything over 15…
Body searches to travel without suspicion of wrongdoing are absurd, period.
Re: Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security
#30Blaming volume? How about 1) the switch from metal detectors to less numerous and slower body scanners? 2) the allocation of employee resources to the "pre check" line leaving less staff for 90% of travelers. 3) still having to take belts and shoes off even with a full body scan? This program has gotten seriously out of hand and is incredibly frustrating. I don't care if it's 3 hours or "75 minutes" anything over 15…
Body searches to travel without suspicion of wrongdoing are absurd, period.
Just go get pre check?