Boom Supersonic CEO Wants Airport Screening Abolished

Arriving early is something I also do. Plus whenever possible book a flight that leaves between 8 in the evening and 5 in the morning. Less crowds, shorter line ups and security is less stressed.

Sounds like you were in a Northeastern airport. That's par for the course up here. Everyone is perpetually miserable!

I have not traveled in a while but when did Ticket Agents start manning the TSA checkpoint ?

Thats the sad part from what I have seen the few times I have been flying some dont look the part. A few seem to show there is more I am in charge attitude rather than being customer orented.

Seems these TSA agents let their perceived power and control go to their heads. They are aware we aren't gonna take the time to report them.

Yes, this.

I would happily pay more for the airline to call me to the gate at the last possible moment so i get on the plane and the door closes behind me. Why would i want to get on first and sit on an already uncomfortable seat with no leg room and no IFE for half an hour whilst the rest of the SLF jostle around me.

I’m frequently a priority passenger and I’m the opposite. I want o board as soon as possible. I want my responsibility to board, settle and strap in over with. At that point, my work is done. I’ve traveled a lot and experience has taught me to play my part quickly and efficiently. Hanging out until the last minute, even with the airline’s blessing and encouragement sounds like asking for trouble.
That said, I may be crazy.

Turkish Airlines does this (at least on domestic First Class. Had the privilege to fly on 3 separate legs on domestic First and how the operate is that you'll be in the lounge relaxing, then they will call you to board special (Lounge only customers) buses and the take you airside all the way to your airplane (if boarding by stairs) or to the base of the the jetbridge, you go upstairs and board last (almost shutting the door as soon as the last passenger boards. FAs have closed the respective First Class bins so no "advantageous passenger" can take up your space, so you basically enjoy about 20-30 more minutes of lounge time, avoid the boarding hassle and passengers parading down the aisle and get to board at the last possible second. Same on arrival, a bus waits only for First Class passengers and drives you all the way to the baggage claim area, so you avoid having to walk across the airport. This was back in January and February 2023. And as experiences go, they even had at the new Istanbul Airport a Business/First/Status curbside drop off, with exclusive checkin counters and dedicated security lane attached to the lounge so basically from curbside to lounge to airplane very smoothly without having to be in the airport.

I’m not a fan of it either but it’s for our safety so I tolerate it and I am always polite to the people working security. A smile and a Good Morning tends to reduce the rudeness I see them treated others with.

Airline security prior to TSA was their responsibility. The four hijackers on nine eleven changed that.

This is the nail on the head. These TSA workers are not allowed to think for them selves, so they blindly follow their procedures, that only work 80% of the time, namely when a picture perfect passenger comes along. But oh dear if you travel with kids, carry medical oxygen or simply misunderstand the procedure, you get a bollocking that would embarrass a 1960’s headteacher. Ot’s simply not OK. And they get away with it, because when you suggest it to change, (even in writing to their supervisors) you get the 9/11 speech (as if I wasn’t there). It’s not the point to make it less safe, only to make it less unpleasant. But I guess by the lack of intelligence and absent willingness to improve, this will be a difficult task, that can only succeed if all travellers stand together and collectively object to the current procedures.

I only sit up front.
I have always worked hard to buy a better seat, but I have given up; I no longer want to travel.
Angry TSA, angry gate agents, angry cabin crew and worst of all, angry public.

Yup. And even with lots of cops on the road, people still speed. But the issue isn't whether TSA is perfect. It's what would happen if there were no weapons screenings. As it is now, with everyone knowing that weapons are forbidden, TSA still finds something like 7000 weapons a year in normal screening. Usually they are people who "just forgot" that they carried a weapon.

Anyone who has ideas on how to improve the TSA in-airport experience should speak up. But is anyone seriously considering making commercial air travel weapons-friendly?

OK. And replace it with what? Do you want hyper-skilled ninjas performing the screening? That would cost way, way more than we spend now. What if TSA just rebranded to "STA" or "AST"? Would that do it for you? Is this just a branding issue or do you have a substantive change in mind?

So these people chose to contribute to society by getting a job. I suppose you would also complain about them if they did not work at all and were standing on the street idle. How entitled of you. Be better.

They do that. Enroll in TSA Precheck:
"https://www.tsa.gov/precheck"

They already do! Fly First or Business on long haul flights and right away they hand you steel knives and forks!

Before 9-11, in both Schiphol and Heathrow, after clearing security, i was approached by security guards carrying assault rifles, accompanied by an english speaking agent and K-9s. They tersly asked everything from why I had three or four airline frquent flier bag tags to my many trips to Europe and South America to why I appeared nervous?

The answer to that was, I’m not used to being interogated by machine gun toting guards while a german shepard sniffed my ass.

Europe’s airport security isnt more pleasant.

I have flown a ton in the US and rarely see or experience the sort of behavior you describe. I mainly see busy workers trying to keep the flow of passengers moving, and a handful of clueless/entitled people giving them crap. I suspect that those people would report a bad experience, but it would be of their own making.

In pondering the difference between the US and Europe on this Google tells us "TSA pay in the United States generally lags behind pay for similar security positions in other countries. TSA employees have historically been excluded from standard federal pay scales, leading to lower salaries and fewer benefits compared to other federal workers."

You want better screeners? Pay them.

Personally I hope we never forget the mistakes that led to that.

Could you elaborate on "the type of people employed in the job"?

The elimination of profiling is one of the biggest problems. And it’s not just airport security, if we know certain types of people are more prone to commit acts of violence then people who meet that criteria should be singled out for more scrutiny.

We now have to take off our shoes and belts because several years ago a would-be terrorist aboard an inflight commercial aircraft had an incendiary material hidden in his shoe and tried to ignite it! Terrorists are still seeking opportunities in which to kill Americans, therefore we must remain proactive and not become complacent otherwise the next commercial aircraft may be a target.

The new Real ID’s have a holographic image of your photo embedded into the card. as well as a secondary photo that has transparency around it so you can see through it. Both are extremely difficult to create and falsify. Hope that helps. But the fact that you didn’t have to go into the DMV to show more docs is interesting… maybe due to your age? or your state has better tech that can ID you without that MA Bell phone bill ;)

Strong, sophisticated metal detectors, perfect! Taking away people’s eye drops, x-raying shoes, no water bottles, all that stuff is a waste.

I’ve had to go through the full TSA exam to get on a flight in a 8 seat prop plane with no cockpit. Any of us could have attacked the pilot without anything other than our hands!

You have described our present world exactly! These same impatient complainers are the potential troublemakers onboard flights. Their ego does not rule my safety.

For some of them jail isn’t the answer. We put down dogs that cannot control their impulse to bite people so why don’t we do the same with humans who cannot control their impulse to kill others.

I think there will someday be affordable supersonic commercial flights. I just don’t think it will be in my lifetime.

The oligarchs don't fly commercial.

How was 9 11 a false flag event?