Independent of the security theater problem, we (collectively) beat the air travel system like a rented mule.
Do we? Because I feel like the airlines beat passengers like pieces of cattle. I know I'm not alone in that sentiment.
When I was a kid there was no security. My Mom and Dad would make us put on a tie to go get somebody at the airport.
And if you could afford it, they called you part of "the jet set." I bet this - where more people can use air travel - is better. It's just not special any more. UX is a secondary consideration.
I also have stopped flying altogether due to invasion of privacy and feeling like cattle PLUS now that there are long lines, the chance of tempers flaring is real. Just witness the violence and hatred in the streets of America these days and watch how the police are unable to control riots...YES RIOTS...we no longer have protesters...protests are now riots. Airport crowding combined with invasion of privacy, impatience & anger = disaster waiting to happen. TSA is the terrorist here.
I also have stopped flying altogether due to invasion of privacy and feeling like cattle PLUS now that there are long lines, the chance of tempers flaring is real. Just witness the violence and hatred in the streets of America these days and watch how the police are unable to control riots...YES RIOTS...we no longer have protesters...protests are now riots. Airport crowding combined with invasion of privacy, impatience & anger = disaster waiting to happen. TSA is the terrorist here.
>I arrive at the airport in a Lyft. That costs money. Many people take the train or a shuttle or lean on a friend. >I walk up to the security checkpoint checkpoint, where I show the agent my phone. They see my boarding pass with the green checkmark and send me to the empty TSA Pre line. I walk through the metal detector with no adjustments to my attire. You paid for that TSA PreCheck privilege which, while not in the…
> 3. Profit! The Department of Homeland Security (of which the TSA is a part of) has a budget and its priorities are set in Congress. There is no "profit" motive here. The US is throwing money at this problem, and money that only creates inconveniences for us.
Over a long enough time frame, all bureaucracies become institutions whose only goal is the continued growth and accumulation of resources ( to be used for the continued growth of the bureaucracy itself), not for the original purpose of the bureaucracy.
TSA is the number one reason why I don't fly and drive instead. From my POV most of the world's industries have progressed positively, but not air travel. I took a train a couple of years ago and it was a beautiful example of old merging with new. Walking through an antique of a train station, iPhone in hand, with my digital ticket ready to board; so easy and pleasant. At that point I realized that air travel is by f…
I arrive at the airport in a Lyft. I walk up to the security checkpoint checkpoint, where I show the agent my phone. They see my boarding pass with the green checkmark and send me to the empty TSA Pre line. I walk through the metal detector with no adjustments to my attire. I am at the gate in 5 minutes. I like how trains basically let you show up last minute, and a 3 hour train ride actually means a 3 hour train rid…
I always thought being a natural born citizen with no criminal record, with all the rights and privileges afforded therefore, would count as a "Pre-Check."
The TSA is a jobs program with a bit of "throw government contracts to your buddies" mixed in. Same with the military to an extent. A TSA Screener job is about the closest we'll get to Basic Income: stand around in an airport occasionally groping people for $13-18/hr, plus awesome Federal benefits. Qualifications: essentially none.
> The TSA is a jobs program with a bit of "throw government contracts to your buddies" mixed in. The TSA is not a jobs program, especially for screening, etc.; those jobs directly replaced private sector jobs. The function was nationalized to move potential liability from the airlines (who contracted with the organizations operating airports, who contracted with private security firms) when they complained about the…
Sure it is. Do you remember post 9/11. Nobody traveled by air. The Airlines were all talking about having to declare bankruptcy. Then the government stepped in. If nothing else, the government helped subsidize and protect the airline industry (in the case of the TSA, in only a "relatively" small way) by paying for jobs that airports and airlines used to pay for. So the government paid for security so that the airlines and airports didn't have too. The liability argument is a farce that was taken care of almost immediately afterwards, and regardless, it's still a jobs program. If you kill two birds with one stone, all the better. So if the TSA is not a jobs program, I don't know what is.
1. GA is not limited to the rich. Once you're at about the median US income (or 1/3 of what an SV developer makes, give or take), it is within reach. Slightly more than that and it's starts approaching "affordable," especially as a hobby and not a means of transportation. 2. Money buys you things. By definition people with more money will not be burdened by the same things as those with less.
Private jet travel is probably _not_ within reach for the average SV developer.
Can we also acknowledge that the average SV developer is probably in the upper quartile of wages in the US (if going by the median, not average)
> it's hard to propose a workable alternative No, actually, it's really easy. > You need some security. That was clear before 9-11. No, it was not clear then, and it is not clear now. There are two salient facts: 1. When tested, the TSA misses 90% or so of the weapons people try to smuggle past them 2. Notwithstanding #1, there have been zero successful terrorist attack on aircraft in the U.S. since 9-11. So it is fa…
> 2. Notwithstanding #1, there have been zero successful terrorist attack on aircraft in the U.S. since 9-11. How much is due to the TSA, as opposed to civilian and military intelligence work at home and abroad and simple measures such as having air marshals and preventing any access to the cockpit during flight?
I'd argue the 2nd part has more to do with passengers simply paying attention. The underwear bomber and shoe bomber were both caught by fellow passengers (iirc), not by the TSA or the CIA/NSA/FBI/Military.
>I arrive at the airport in a Lyft. That costs money. Many people take the train or a shuttle or lean on a friend. >I walk up to the security checkpoint checkpoint, where I show the agent my phone. They see my boarding pass with the green checkmark and send me to the empty TSA Pre line. I walk through the metal detector with no adjustments to my attire. You paid for that TSA PreCheck privilege which, while not in the…
> I don't do PreCheck because buying your rights is not something we should be able or have to do. The standard answer is that airplane travel, just as being able to drive on public roads is not a right. Founding fathers apparently failed in their inability to predict we'd be able to amazingly fly through the air one day. So it is not in the Constitution. Therefore please step right into the Rapeyscan machine if you…
> Founding fathers apparently failed in their inability to predict we'd be able to amazingly fly through the air one day.
I think a traditional interpretation of the constitution is that unenumerated rights are reserved for the people, so this shouldn't be an issue, as designed. In reality, we can't even seem to maintain the rights that are explicitly reserved for the people (cough4th amendmentcough).
a large part of the purpose of airport security is to protect uninvolved people on the ground This was solved when they locked the cockpit doors. Every other airport security restriction has been an overreaction in my opinion.
I think you may be right. However, you'd have to convince the public (or at least Congress) before you could have "security free" flights even with secure cockpits.
We have "security free" flights today. The only difference is we will no longer have to wait in line.