Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

TSA lines are so out of control that travelers are hiring line-sitters

washingtonpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 155 posts

Re: TSA lines are so out of control that travelers are hiring line-sitters

#121

Post by robocat »

Gud wrote: post #110
hammock wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So it’s complete building destruction that is the protective mission here? Not loss of life or general terrorism or something else? I’m glad we are clarifying I wasn’t aware that DJI drone with 60lb payload was subject to more regulations than a Citation leaving TEB but I guess I’m open to learning what those are.

Why are you spending so much effort helping the most privileged people on the planet? Makes no sense to be their white knight

Why are you wasting time here? Even a letter to the editor would be more effective than an HN comment.

Re: TSA lines are so out of control that travelers are hiring line-sitters

#122

Post by gradientsrneat »

arcza wrote: post #13
miyuru wrote: post #3

https://archive.ph/cwDaq (No account needed)

Doesn't this guy's server just DDoS some dude's blog with your own browser? Didn't click.

Context: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46843805

The archive.today domains have also poisoned DNS lookups from some privacy-preserving DNS providers, and in rare cases have been caught tampering the archive data. Make of that what you will.

Re: TSA lines are so out of control that travelers are hiring line-sitters

#123

Post by verall »

garciasn wrote: post #106
AlotOfReading wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the TSA exists because 19 people hijacked 4 flights and succeeded in crashing 3 of them into various important buildings in the US on 9/11/2001. Private planes are just as capable of crashing into buildings as commercial jets. The TSA has picked up some ancillary public safety functions over the years, but their raison d'etre is to prevent hijackings.

No; the TSA exists because we needed a government jobs program that was easy to promote under the guise of terrorism.

It's not nearly enough jobs to be a jobs program

Re: TSA lines are so out of control that travelers are hiring line-sitters

#125

Post by daveoc64 »

m348e912 wrote: post #67
mikkupikku wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIC there's no good reason for airport security to be a federal jobs program in the first place. The airports and/or their contractors are perfectly capable of operating x-ray machines and metal detectors on their own, and from what I understand are even still permitted to but all choose to let the government do it and pay for it. What the fuck is the TSA even supposed to be doing? The 9/11 guys supposedly used box…

I'm not the first to suggest this, but I think "fly at your own risk" airlines would be popular with some people. Keep the cockpit door reinforced, and maintain a gentleman's agreement among travellers on what to do if a passenger threatens a flight. Airport security is now reduced to 10 seconds.

As noted elsewhere, that approach doesn't stop someone flying the plane into a building.

Re: TSA lines are so out of control that travelers are hiring line-sitters

#126

Post by Spooky23 »

gruez wrote: post #71
Spooky23 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the Senate. You are correct. The Speaker of the House is a toady who is held in line in the house by a small cabal of super MAGA people. Given some of his unusual personal situations, (for one, he supposedly has no bank account or financial assets) there’s likely a blackmail situation. His supine nature is also probably the strategy for the “3rd term” loophole.

>Given some of his unusual personal situations, (for one, he supposedly has no bank account or financial assets) there’s likely a blackmail situation 1. source on the bank account claim? 2. I don't think you need to involve theories that he's being financially blackmailed, when it's pretty clear that Trump has a tight grip over the Republican party, and isn't afraid to attack or back primary challengers for Republica…

Re: #1: https://nypost.com/2023/11/05/news/speaker-mike-johnson-shru...

Re: 2: I disagree.

Re: TSA lines are so out of control that travelers are hiring line-sitters

#127

Post by ryandrake »

PearlRiver wrote: post #34
oefrha wrote: post #22

From the last few paragraphs: > There is an official way for travelers to bypass long TSA waits if they’re willing to spend: hiring concierge services to escort them through security. > Perq Soleil is an airport arrival and departure assistance service that can help travelers through TSA in about a minute flat by accessing alternative lines usually reserved for airport staff and airline personnel. The company — which…

The people arriving on private jets have always bypassed these bureaucratic procedures. Brotherhood and equality.

It's true equality: The rich and poor alike are allowed to fly on private jets or hire a departure assistance service!

Re: TSA lines are so out of control that travelers are hiring line-sitters

#128

Post by schmookeeg »

woodruffw wrote: post #101
schmookeeg wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In terms of menace potential, any private plane will lose to a van full of fertilizer and a baddie intent on causing destruction. It's a matter of scale. Little planes, like this one [1] just don't do damage on the same scale as airliners. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Austin_suicide_attack

Most private planes taking off from commercial airports (the ones where TSA generally operates) are much larger than a Piper Dakota. (But regardless, it’s not clear that the TSA is even performing that kind of calculus.)

A G650 still loses to a motivated U-haul. :)

No argument though, just saying it's a hard problem, and the scaling issue makes it somewhat awkward to deploy security resources in proportion to the threat.

I don't have a solution. I'm not exactly thrilled with the current setup, but I try to stay quiet since I can't think of anything better.

Re: TSA lines are so out of control that travelers are hiring line-sitters

#129

Post by caminante »

verall wrote: post #123
garciasn wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No; the TSA exists because we needed a government jobs program that was easy to promote under the guise of terrorism.

It's not nearly enough jobs to be a jobs program

By what standard?

Federal civilian workforce (ex Postal Service and Military) is only 3 million.

TSA has 60k employees.

That's a lot of permanent jobs.

Re: TSA lines are so out of control that travelers are hiring line-sitters

#130

Post by caminante »

joquarky wrote: post #107
kgermino wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the TSA wouldn’t do anything to stop that Hell the TSA doesn’t do much to prevent that on commercial flights, but requiring private flights to start going through commercial security would be completely pointless

Inconveniencing wealthy people might create motivation to fix the problem.

Doesn't work.

If TSA were added, there still wouldn't be any lines at private terminals.

Post reply on HN