The TSA: Much Better Than In The Past, Or Still Awful?

Nope. This might be if you are an American Citizen, but anyone visiting it is awful.

The movie Carry-On has done wonders for their image.

Yes, I love being shouted by some TSA guy at BOS to take off my shoes, because as an European I’m not used to take off my shoes, because our scanners apparently work on people with their shoes on for some reason.

@ E39 -- Lol, hey, I never said anything about friendliness! This is the United States, and we don't have a service culture unless tipping is involved... and even then, it can be iffy.

I have to disagree - American citizen who lives abroad and does frequent travel back to US and globally. I'd rank USA as the least pleasant security experience - often disorganized, loud/angry employees yelling conflicting instructions, an expectation that everyone knows the rules (which vary so much by airport, country, age, security status, etc.) and overall longer queue times. Hard pass.

The answer is location-dependent. And, readers' responses to your question will be colored by which locations they frequent. At LAX, virtually every terminal is usually a breeze. At DEN, it is a nightmare. At JFK, it is a nightmare . . . but, T1 is a psychotic episode. At some regional airport, it is likely a breeze.

No complaints. Would rather be safe than sorry. Wish there was independent screening of planes. Not sure what people pay for Clear or bother to use it, but works well to divert people out of the precheck line for hand holding and provides jobs.

"Keep your shoes on" is not Europe-wide. Same thing with "no need to take your laptop out." And, airport security personnel everywhere seem to speak with an elevated voice given the background noise.

@Ben Schlappig, what are your thoughts about the new analogic machines? I have no idea about the effectiveness of finding weapons, etc, but all I hear is that they take much longer. I haven't traveled enough to know how they've impacted security lines. What's your experience with lines since those have been introduced?

Depends on your arrival airport, consistently good at IAD, LAS and LAX, JFK & ATL just ok but OMG does anyone else have consistently bad experiences at BOS, they are so rude, shouting conflicting instructions I hate flying into Boston.

The usefulness of Clear is location-dependent. At LAX, TSA is so easy that Clear is not useful. At DEN or JFK, it is a different story.

TSA is still a joke. They're mostly for appearance sake.

I can't tell you the number of times I've flown and the "new" machines are shut down and they're forcing everyone through old lanes where you have to take everything out, etc.

I regularly get into fights with TSA agents who demand that I put everything in one bin. There's no such federal regulation. Or they want to toss my bag on top of my suit jacket or crush my shoes with the bag.

I fly just about every week wearing the same kind of clothes with the same items in my carry-ons. Some airports I set off the machines and require secondary screening. Other airports nothing happens. Half the time they want to rub my groin because supposedly the machine detected something -- my tight-fitting boxer briefs. Apparently, the computer mistakes tight-fitting underwear and a man's penis as some sort of contraband.

And the Analogic machines are awful.

I agree that TSA has gotten better. They also discovered 6,678 firearms in 2024.

my number one gripe with many foreign airport checkpoints is that the conveyer belt is short and personnel speak to each person individually before allowing them to unpack their items.

Yes, TSA often yells commands at a crowd and, if someone does something wrong, TSA yells a command to everyone based on what the person that "failed" such as "no water bottles".

TSA is far more efficient and fast because people can start unpacking and preparing for security themselves and the conveyers are long enough that multiple people can prepare for screening at the same time.

and, any place that uses the multi-station unloading system with 5 or more positions where the bins automatically arrive underneath the preparation stations works faster than the x-ray screener can work.

I think out of about 50 times going through security last year, the only time it’s taken me more than 5-10 minutes total was at SEA during cruise season. That was also the only location that forced me to step out of line due to my artificial hip. Normally I go thru the regular pre-check metal detector and 90% of the time I don’t set it off. In Seattle, guaranteed trip through the nude-o-scope.

To the point of your article, TSA is hugely more efficient than even 10 years ago.

I too believe that TSA has, generally speaking, gotten better of the years. But of course there's still room for improvement. With so many people now have Pre-check, I think they should significantly expand the number of precheck lanes. The precheck lanes are now often more crowded than the standard lanes, which is frustrating. Also, the new x-ray machines installed at some airports like Indianapolis are glacially slow. The lines of people waiting for their bags after passing through the metal detector are getting quite long at those airports using the new x-ray machines.

Well, I'll agree that getting through security has generally been pretty quick these days, especially with PreCheck. The inconsistency of how many bins to use and what can go together is frustrating, and agents often assume I'm an idiot for not knowing exactly what to do at this specific airport (especially on the rare occasion when I'm not in a dedicated PreCheck lane).

I'll agree that the staff is friendlier in most other countries, but having to take out my liquids is always annoying.

Of course, my most recent international trip was to Egypt, and I don't have to tell Ben about the "wonders" of the Cairo airport

I do often roll my eyes at another VFTW headline about TSA failures. And agreed that I rarely spend more than a few minutes traversing US checkpoints, which is a bit of a marvel when you consider the volume and complexity involved.

But then there's Analogic. It does feel like lines are getting longer and slower, and it's wherever these are found (pretty common now too). Even when there's no line I find myself twiddling my thumbs on the other end of the checkpoint waiting for the ass machine to decide to let my bags pass. And c'mon, can we really trust a vendor who brands their security machines "Analogic"? I'm only half kidding.

What you choose to ignore is that data on TSA failure rates is old because Pekoske kept performance reports classified during his tenure. The response to embarrassing results was to keep them secret.

Newer Analogic screening machines are far slower than what they replaced. And while TSA believes the liquid ban is no longer needed where those machines are in place, they say they won't get rid of the ban until the machines are everywhere - which they don't plan to do until 2040.

TSA is better-staffed in many airports because pay rates were increased 25%-40%, but things remain bleak in places like Denver, Atlanta and Austin.

In terms of international comparisons, let's do Australian domestic travel versus U.S. domestic travel.

In any case, I don't blow off civil liberties the way you seem to in this post - the way government targeting databases have been used to deny access to air travel, including as retaliation for refusing to become a government informant (rather than any risk to aviation); the way travelers have been followed through airports with staff reporting on their bathroom habits (Quiet Skies), and simply having to show papers and submit to pat downs to exercise a fundamental right... all in the name of shifting risk elsewhere [where, in the past, TSA has even admitted in court that they have not known of any actual plots against aviation nor have they actually stopped any].

I disagree. I've made dozens of flights from, and within, countries outside the US. The US security experience (if you have pre-check) is well above average.

I recently had the dubious pleasure of four flights within Egypt and an outbound flight from Egypt. Everyone had to go through security TWICE for each flight. EVERYONE had to remove belts and shoes for each flight. Plus, we ALL received a thorough pat-down each time. At least Ben won't have to worry about this experience anytime soon.

Security has been a breeze everywhere I've flown lately (about to head to DEN, so I've likely just jinxed myself), even if there is a line. With that said, I have always had a theory that it depends on how nice the airport/terminal itself is. I genuinely think a really nice airport/terminal leads to a more pleasant staff and morale.
I think it's funny you highlighted Japan's security. Haneda was the most chaotic, unorganized arrival experience I've ever encountered and departure from Narita was also an insanely slow and unorganized experience.

This would be my criticism as well. Either be consistent throughout the country (or even airport) or clearly post the requirements before we get to the front of the line. Last week my wife had her ID and boarding pass in hand in line. An agent was yelling "ID only put your boarding pass away". She ended up getting flustered and dropping her ID when she put her phone in her bag. So the same agent yelled at her to step aside if she wasn't ready. Totally unnecessary. Just put a sign(s) up that say ID only.

I’ve never had an issue in many years and it’s always been a breeze. The longest I’ve ever waited is about 5 minutes.

I have no issue with TSA. Occasional less than great experience but that is almost always due to some passenger; they have the operation down to a science at this point.

Individual airport logistics play such a huge role in people’s perceptions of TSA.
Let’s take a look at AUS, where Gary’s home base is. Due to the huge increase in flights over the last 5 years, Austin is in catch up mode and it’s not happening fast enough. People blame TSA for the security lines but frequently it’s not their fault (hello Denver). Back to Austin; TSA Precheck used to be in multiple locations, then they put it only in 1 location, which made the line 3 times a long (no one remembers that it’s 3 times faster of course). Then it moved to a new location…all in what seems to be just in the last year. It’s a total cluster f***. When you add in all of the early morning flights and the increased travel demand… well tsa precheck line at 5AM this early Dec was over an hour long and almost out the door. Now is TSA to blame for this? No! It’s the damn airport and the airlines for cramming so much more in a system that can’t ramp up quickly.
Take the opposite, anyone been to ABQ? Now that tsa line is better that security in the LH first class lounge. You walk up to the empty precheck line, and see 8 agents just waiting for you (no forced german security smiles here…❤️ you Germany) … that’s been every time im in ABQ. You look over to regular screening and see the line has 5 people. It’s the airport location that matters, and this the airport not TSA.

IMO, TSA gotten better. They are happier (better pay under last admin), the new machines are much smarter with my entire life essentials “Marry Poppins” bag. And agents finally have a better system in place to deal with the entitled clear folks… “every other one guys, every other one”

So much better now, though it still varies a bit between airports. New York airports used to be the worst, with agents screaming at grandmas to get out of their wheelchairs faster. Now the agents are unbelievably friendly, polite, efficient. Should be a case study in how to turn around a service culture at an organization.

Most (actually all) of these people who constantly bitch about TSA won't be satisfied until THEY are granted a special pass to walk in the side door without being screened. It's so American! Look, there has to be security. Why aren't we like Israel? Okay, let's do it their way. ..be AT the airport 4-5 hours prior and possibly be interrogated.....yeah INTERROGATED.....and you complain about TSA occasionally making you show them your liquids.
If you're precheck which most of us are, you don't take off you shoes or take out you liquids with any regularity. Would you rather LHR where they bust your balls over a travel toothpaste....every.....single....time?
Let's do away with TSA and let's go back to minimum wage contractors. You think lines are long and the quality of employees is bad now what do you think will happen?
I fly a few segments a week. Some days TSA is a 5 minute experience, some days it's a 15. It's no longer the worst part of my airport experience.

I would say the process of going through TSA has improved and most times it is quick. Now, the main problem with TSA is the disgusting attitude from some agents. There are nice agents but the bad apples make the entire TSA get a bad reputation. Some agents use their role as a way to show power over people and that is disgusting. I have seen people being treated very poorly by TSA for absolutely no reason. Some start screaming even before you place your items on the belts. Also, some very outdated rules should be changed. The liquid restriction is dumb. Yes, maybe don't allow someone to bring a gallon of liquid through security but a bottle of water should be fine. It is sad to see people having to dump something nice they are bringing with them just because it is liquid or gel. Last, the fact that not all TSA checkpoints are made equal is bothersome. I had situations where I flew a round trip on the same day with the same clothes, backpack, etc... Everything was fine on my way to my destination with no alarms or pat down but for some reason my belt, my shoes, my watch, my backpack, everything was triggering alarms and getting me through a separate screen on the way back. Anything to make the experience less painful would be appreciated.

I'm just pleased Gary wrote about something other than not getting a free breakfast at a four-star property he visited on points.

I hate to keep bringing it up, but it's what he does.

Posts like this are why this blog is so much smarter than the others! My only gripe with the TSA and I think this is just customer service in the US in general but I'm never quite sure why so many of the agents are outright nasty and rude. I guess it's a boring repetitive job but it would be nice if it didn't feel like going to the DMV and they were less hostile.

TSA could watch the griping get cut by 75pc immediately if they ever decide to stop making people take their shoes off. One dude 20+ years ago went through security in a foreign country and tried to light his shoes on fire, and here we all are still today. Only ever remove shoes in the US, or returning to the US.

The tight fitting underwear might just be your problems for most of what angers you in your life. If you "regularly get into fights" with TSA then I think that tells me all I need to know about you.
There are absolutely sone differences between airports but I've found that if I pay attention to what I'm asked to do then I usually get through quickly.
If you're the type of person who can't handle being given instruction then I can see why you have problems at TSA....and the grocery store....and the bank....and your marriage etc.

Your experience is very similar to mine. The lack of consistency across US airports is what bothers me the most. Round trip on the same day, easy and perfect screening on the way to my destination but everything goes to hell on the way back triggering all alarms and a secondary screening. Worst is when they pull your bag aside because they saw "something" but once they take everything out of the bag they find nothing and they don't know what to tell you. Such a waste of time and they are never respectful but because something triggered their alarms they already assume you have something to hide.

Or his trolling TikTok (or maybe OnlyFans) for flight attendants he can highlight.

Tell me something that is pleasant about DEN airport. What a dump.

So then just take them off. You've been to the USA before so you know it's a possibility. You being unprepared or unwilling to cooperate is why lines are long and slow. Thanks!

"The precheck lanes are now often more crowded than the standard lanes..." This has been my experience the last 4 flights I've taken over the last 12 months. At LAS, LGA, and FLL the Pre Check lines were 2x the size of the regular lines. At LGA we ended up just joining the main line as it was moving faster.

This isn't unique to the US. In Canada I consistently find different airports have different rules as to what can and can't stay in your bag. I also have a CPAP and it seems to change from airport to airport in both CAN and the US on whether I need to remove the machine from the carrying case. At the end of the day it isn't a big deal but I don't understand how standards can change from place to place.

TSA security when getting onto a plane has certainly improved in the last decade, it's much better. You still get officers bellowing in English at Chinese pax who don't understand them, but it's far more "shouty" in African or the Middle East security queues.

However the nightmare that is US Customs when entering the USA on an international flight is still dreadful. Never enough people manning the dozens of desks each time I enter. For an industry that runs on the hub&spoke model, it's unforgivable how many pax miss flights standing in a line.

@ Gary Leff -- I hear you about the TSA not releasing data about the number of items that are missed, though you also can't necessarily assume that this means the numbers haven't changed. If you're making the argument that the TSA hasn't improved, simply citing a 95% number from a decade ago doesn't do much to drive home that point. If you have any additional data, I'd love to hear it.

Regarding civil liberties, what is your objection, specifically? Is this about full body imagining and IDs? I know you're a CLEAR member, so you voluntarily participate in a program that has terms stating information can be shared with the government.

And regarding Australia, what about international security there vs. how it is here? Australia has separate terminals, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. It annoys me in Australia how you can't even bring small cuticle scissors through security, unlike in the United States.

Regarding not the TSA but CBP: has anyone noticed a sudden increase in people being ushered for secondary (agricultural) baggage inspection most recently? Few days ago we flew back to MIA, and every third person in front of us (including us) were told to go for secondary inspection.

I think the major problem with TSA is not the government employees - who, in general, are doing a great job and I thank them all the time - but rather the passengers. The pre-check and CLEAR lines are better because they are often filled with people who know what they are doing and play by the rules. Everyone else, it is a free for all with all the crap they want to bring on board - heck, just look at the amount of guns they find.... get rid of the passengers and TSA would be great.

TSA doing a good job and just fine on my many flights from various airports

Agreed. Absolute joke. I don't get what their obsession is with piling everything into one bin. I was once carrying Laduree Macaroons when flying internationally and put in a separate bin. Despite telling the officer that I wish to keep in a separate bin because it's fragile, the moron throws my shoes and backpack into the same bin and my macaroons get crushed. Absolutely HATE them, have never had such a disastrous security experience in any country. Being an a-hole is probably a part of their job description.

Amsterdam, Japan, Singapore, even LHR have been better experiences.

Newer equipment foregoes the need to remove shoes. Newer equipment must be purchased. The current administration is inclined to reduce the TSA/CBP budget. We get what we voted for.

TSA is useless but putting that aside. TSA came up with PreCheck, great. But now there's more and more people with PreCheck but basically the same number of PreCheck entry points, lanes, ID checkers and screeners. Not to mention those new, big wasteful machines that slow down the process. The result is that you no longer can depend upon PreCheck being any quicker than the regular screening lane. In fact, I can't tell you the number of times there's one PreCheck ID checker, one lane with a long line of passengers while the non PreCheck lane has multiple checkers and multiple lanes and therefore no line of passengers.

The common sense thing would be to get rid of the silly nude o scan and the taking off the shoes/no large liquids, have everyone go through a normal screening and there wouldn't be bottlenecks. But common sense will never prevail when stupidity can reign.

Global Entry tends to be a breeze. And, US residents without GE also seem to have it easy. Non-US residents with the electronic travel authorization also seem to have it easy. Is it not just non-US persons without the pre-authorization who have it tough?

Still a disgraceful way of the world's strongest country showing a welcome/farewell to foreigners.

Almost a tell tale sign to not come back.
Or maybe that actually is the message.

^^^ THIS COMMENT ^^^

@Santastico

Now AeroB13a the BA apologist DEN-LHR bragger would hunt you down to death.

@Jack - I have a "chipped" passport and I still have to queue up for 1.5 hours to stand for 40 seconds in front of a surly officer before being released. It's not the foreign passport that is the issue, it's the lack of staff manning the desks.

TSA shows a welcome to foreigners??

Let's rephrase more broadly: TSA shows a welcome to travelers?

The alternate isn't great either though. MCI went private for a while and those guys were less professional and more annoying than TSA (at least in my experiences).

TSA for the most part is fine. No more or less rude than what I encounter in Europe, on average.

Gary is just trying to stir the pot because he’s for clicks. I’m surprised he took time off of scrounging social media for “travel hacks” to even read here.

Gary is just trying to stir the pot because he’s desperate for clicks. I’m surprised he took time off of scrounging social media and generating AI article headers to even read here.

No, Ben, TSA has not improved, or at least not by very much. SFO is my home airport, and we don't have TSA -- the airport contracted with a private company for screening. Sometimes it's quite efficient (i.e.: faster than in other airports in my personal experience), and sometimes not -- everyone is too busy chatting to one another to actually do any work. The latter is a common problem in many airports, whether the screeners are TSA employees or private contractors. This is why, in the days of TSA PreCheck, CLEAR is still beneficial. Except in cases where the CLEAR line is longer than the PreCheck line, it continues to same me time. (We can ignore for now the propriety of even having CLEAR; all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.)

One of my biggest pet peeves with the whole screening process has to do with the fact I have had a total knee replacement. That means I cannot go through the metal detector, but have to go through the scanning "booth." But the overwhelming number of PreCheck lanes do not have a scanner. This means I have to step out of line, notify the screener (once they notice me and stop telling me to get back in line) and wait, while they radio for another screener -- and then repeat the request about 75% of the time before someone actually shows up -- to escort me into a non-PreCheck line where about 40% of the time I still have to take off my belt and shoes and still end up having to be physically patted down.

And don't get me started on those new bag scanning machines that take forever, while I wait and then -- if and when they ever finish -- drop the bags off somewhere else...

Each and every year, you write stories in your blog (as do others) about someone getting through security without a boarding pass, and then having to close the entire terminal while law enforcement searches for the individual(s). Each and every year, in a self-congratulatory press release, the TSA proudly announces all the stuff they've caught trying to get through the checkpoint. But how much stuff gets through? TSA used to report that, but stopped because the number of "misses" during random testing was so embarrassingly high. Have they improved? Who knows, because they won't tell us.

One more thing: a few years ago, prior to my knee replacement, I had knee surgery that temporarily left me on crutches with a metal bar -- called an "external fixator" -- attached to my leg with titanium screws going through my skin. (I know, it was as painful as it was gross.) TSA wanted me to remove it so I could go through the metal detector. Seriously. (Told them not only did I not have a screwdriver, but that I wasn't going to clean up the blood either.)

That's true -- sometimes private can be better; sometimes private can be worse...

Compared to the security process at Heathrow, I'll take TSA any day!

I am always amazed by the number of people who *don't* empty their pockets, or take off their watch, or leave their belts or shoes on, or have water in their water bottle, or...or...or... Haven't these people ever flown before????

Wait so TSA doesn't exist at SFO? Like precheck and stuff doesn't exist?

ICN is under fire from Korean media for long wait times and understaffing at their security checkpoints. Tbh security at American airports is always more pleasant than ICN (which for some reason is still in the 'good airport' category to many people)

TSA is the kind of program that just can't win. If there's a terrorist incident, they failed. If there are no terrorist incidents they're "unecessary". I can't be particularly interested in any whingers who are not willing to take full moral and financial resonsibility for the results of any changes they propose.

Personally, I haven't noticed a huge change in TSA over the last decade except, perhaps, for the introduction of the new scanners which mean I can leave the large array of computers I sometimes have to travel with in my bag. Is my average wait a little shorter? Maybe, but not so much to be a night and day change.

Let's be clear. The TSA is NOT airport security.

The vast majority (probably 99.9%) of incidents that happen on airplanes or in airport terminals are unrelated to the TSA and its mandate. These incidents involve passenger behavior.

The TSA doesn't protect airport terminals.

It merely exists, in theory, to deter terrorists from using a commercial airplane to commit a terrorist attack against the United States.

The TSA isn't trained to engage in other elements of law enforcement. Just look at the problems when TSA detains someone with cash because they think carrying a bunch of cash is suspicious.

Neither the public nor the politicians would ever support getting rid of TSA checkpoints. But in reality, we would be safer if there was an element of unpredictability in passenger screening. Maybe some days you aren't screened. Other days you're screened at the departure gate.

Still awful. They need to be disbanded and security handed off to the airlines again. I'm old enough to remember metal detectors at the gates. Needs to go back to that ASAP.

San Francisco is one of the airports with privatized TSA checkpoints. I think Cincinnati is another.

As a frequent traveler with precheck, I agree with you. Passing security in the US is very predictable. Shoes on, liquids in bag, laptop in bag. It's easy. Even in Canada, you have to show your BP several times throughout the process. It's weird to sing praises for the TSA, but honestly, they have improved. I think a lot of the issues regarding long wait times (ATL, DEN, AUS) revolve around the management of the airport authority and not TSA.

Better where there's still old-school x-ray machine, far worse wherever they've installed the new analogic machines that take forever and result in more secondaries instead of less.

I travel the world, and the only place where security screeners regularly yell at passengers is in the US. PDX in particular.

Precheck exists. It's just that all the security screening is conducted by another private company following all the operational guidelines. TSA does not run and operate the screening.

In Denver's case, it's (1) partly a result of horrible airport design and (2) too much flight growth for the capabilities of the airport.

I think TSA has improved a lot over the last 20+ years. For the last say 15 years I’ve never been yelled at … Also Precheck is great in my view. In other countries you sometimes have fast track for premium classes or higher tier, but TSAPre is background checked and the same for anyone who has qualified, regardless commercial status.

SFO TSA (which I cleared again yesterday) is appalling and seems to specialize in treating everyone poorly.

View from the OnlyFans is not something that I ever want to see

I actually think TSA is way less awful than it could be. Certain airports have their sticking points during high travel peaks and I wish they'd manage that better. But generally speaking, I'm in agreement that TSA is very manageable.

The one thing I do find to be frustrating and a step back is the new x-ray machines that are expanding in airports - don't know the term, but the ones where every thing is in a bin that feeds in automatically. They are slower, and they false flag constantly for manual searches. I have no idea why those are supposedly better, because they do nothing but create longer lines and frustration.

@CHRIS -- I do indeed take my shoes off, because as you say, I've been to the USA before. I just find it funny how there is always a TSA guy (and feels like it's always Boston with the thickest accent lol) who is shouting to the crowds to take their shoes off.

"Updated: 53 mins ago"

This happens a lot. How about putting in big letters or using something to draw attention to what's been updated since the original time of publication?

The TSA regulates itself, which is an absolute non-starter as far as I am concerned. It should set the regulations and then oversee other entities, public or private, that actually provide the service to airports.

With precheck, it works perfectly fine. Any less screening, I practically would be walking straight through the airport. Some security is fine. What do people expect?

my waiting time over here in Frankfurt, Zurich, Stuttgart or Munich is usually less than say in Charlotte, Denver or Newark, so yes personally I have a country where I would rather go through security.
But since covid waiting times in Germany increased significantly so I would argue its now only marginally better than the TSA. But Zurich is significantly better.

the biggest problem is the wild variability in their staffing. i never know when to since i never know when they will have all lanes open with full staff vs. limited lanes and staff

I stopped reading Gary's blog years ago because he devolved into clickbait sensationalism. Have never been back, and haven't given it a minute of thought since.

As for the TSA, I honestly can think of maybe one time in the past five years (travel 30-40 times/year) where I've been in line for more than 10 minutes. Most times it's less than 5 mins. They are doing great from my perspective, all things considered.

Or possibly proofreading before posting... without trying I found an error that's still there.

TSA is security theater nonsense.
If they were any good at their jobs they'd be a lot more transparent.

Also, not every airport is equipped as Ben suggests. My airport in NYS doesn't have a security experience like Ben describes here (and it's worse... they often give pre-check on the fly to elderly people who don't seem to fly often so they have no idea what to do at the front of the line so they waste everyone's time).

Gary Leff at View from the Right Wing, is dragging you in his crappy newsletter today. . . for mentioning him, for Gawd's sake... 2 separate articles. What a child... Thankfully he has an Unsubscribe button...

Except that it's not clear that TSA is making anything safer!

That element of unpredictability is the SSSS on your boarding pass. That's only ever happened to me once...

"buh muh fweeedum!"

TSA in Sacramento is great. NEVER had even a small issue. Staff is generally friendly. I happen to know the two guys in charge here. They regularly come on the radio and answer questions from travelers. I suspect they are responsible for the positive attitude of their staff.

I agree with Ben and Lee. I think TSA generally does a great job, and they seem better today than 15 years ago. And I am certainly glad that TSA does not release recent statistics on the probablity of getting through a particular airport with a weapon.
Lee said that it is location dependent - I believe that is true. TSA in some airports are very courteous, say please and thankyou, and sir or maam - but this does not mean that they are efficient at finding concealed weapons. We don't know that part but must assume that most of them do an excellent job (since I do not remember the last time I heard that someone got through with a weapon).
My vote for the best, most pleasant TSA experience (short, fast lines and courteous, professional level TSA agents) is:
1. Long Beach (LGB) in Southern Cal.
2. Louisville (SDF)
3. Los Angeles (LAX) based on the level of professionalism still maintained with the huge amount of passengers.
In LAX, I was once stopped after buying 15 small Victorinox Swiss Army Knives as gifts for my crew and absentmindedly throwing them in my laptop bag. TSA arranged for me to mail them to myself so I did not have to discard them.
I also generally like my home airport, SLC, but maybe it is just because I understand their drawl !!!

Not sure what is even being debated here. I woke up today left the Westin and headed to terminal D at DFW. It was cool they have a screen that tells you the current wait times. Precheck was a long but moving line of about 14 min and main line was 20 min. Things were moving. A lot of people were flagged for the wand. My suspenders didn’t go off.

TSA at ONT is a nightmare. They have people that are over the retirement age that should be enjoying their time rather than work there. They are super slow, do not know how to use a computer, cannot train their dog to make the difference between cocaine and sugar, it's a joke.

On the contrary, I actually find LHR to be much more manageable than the TSA, despite my misgivings with their level of enforcement of dumb liquid plastic bag rules. Spread out security areas, automated lanes, and soon there will be new scanners that will enable the end of the liquids rule and electrical items coming out. And I say that as someone far from a fan of UK security rules.

Typically there are exceptions for boots/high heeled shoes, or footwear with metal on them. Otherwise, most shoes (like runners) can stay on. Occasionally there are bad apples (I'm looking at you Gatwick), but European airport security looks more organized.

Or better yet. Get rid of a rule that never made any net benefit to airport security.

Agreed. Since COVID-19, that's one of the few areas that have improved since air travel. Immediately before that, they went as far as sometimes requiring food to come out, despite not being an official policy. They need to get rid of some stupid rules from the immediate post 9/11 days.

Except in my experience at DFW, at least the terminal used by Delta, the Pre-Check and Clear wait time is longer than the standard. That observation is based on 6 flights out of DFW in 2024.

The experience of TSA kind of depends on where exactly you are departing from. Usually, it's pretty reasonable at airports like DFW, BOS, LAS, IAD, etc. The worst ones are at the major international hubs like EWR, ORD, JFK, or LAX (I actually had a nice experience in the Delta terminal for LA, though). Generally most people know what they're doing, unlike 20 or even 10 odd years back when there were many who rarely if ever flew.

I think one strength I have seen of other airports outside like in Europe is the automated lanes and more spread out checking areas. There is also a process undergoing to remove liquid restrictions over time. The only country to date where I have had a poorer security experience than the TSA is India (the less said about it, the better).

The TSA would be better if they rooted out a culture of rudeness and arrogance, as well as remove questionable rules that have outlived their use. The US is one of the only few countries to require shoes to come off, while most countries (including France, the country of origin for the shoe bomber flight) don't. Why? According to reports, it will take till 2042 for the liquids rule to go in the US. Will this leave the US behind while other countries remain ahead of the game, further disincentivizing tourism and business? Why have ID and boarding card checks when many have started using e-gates for both security and immigration? It's time to have a bit of a can do mentality for efficiency in air travel.

The TSA should stay, but it needs to be improved and remain relevant with the threats of today. Many of the current security procedures made sense in the 2000s with the uncertainty of terrorism that was mushrooming from continent to continent. But the threats have changed to include cyber warfare, and geopolitics have evolved. The time to make change is now.

Having travelled all over the world and experienced the best and worst of global airport security in my opinion the TSA does a very good job. When I observe individuals having a problem with TSA its often because people think they are gods gift to humanity and somehow rules like emptying your water bottle don't apply to them. People have to remember the TSA's job is to keep people safe not try and make everyone feel special. For my home airport of SAN I almost never have to wait more than a few minutes and the staff have always behaved in a courteous and professional manner. While as a whole maybe TSA agents are not as friendly as security at NRT, ICN or SIN there are plenty of countries where agents just behave like unprofessional fools. If you want to experience what unprofessional airport security staff is like spend some time flying around Nepal, Peru or some of the countries in the Balkans. If your looking for the worst security staff India is in a league all its own. They take pleasure in yelling at people for no reason and opening individual bags just to keep the queue at an >1.5hr wait time. Even compared to many major European gateway airports the TSA is not that bad.

What results from TSA's existence is a net negative. They waste people's time. Because of the TSA, many people choose to drive. Driving is profoundly more dangerous than flying and as a direct result of this, people unnecessarily die. TSA is responsible for the death of many Americans. I hope they are dismantled.
The data has shown they are ineffective at preventing terrorist attacks.
They are a waste of time, money, and most importantly human life.
I hope the president dismantles them.

One other thing you didn’t mention: Over the last 20 years, most airports have significantly renovated, built new terminals or otherwise expanded the physical space allocated to TSA operations. Projects like these often take 10-15 years for planning and execution. The result is that checkpoints are no longer cramped and have adequate room for more screening lanes with space to divest and collect belongings at a reasonable pace. This makes the experience way way better.

Clear would sometimes result in you being let into the precheck lane. I got in that lane a few times before I got Global Entry, though I'd imagine they were not supposed to if you didn't have it attached to your ticket.

I find US border control to much worse than TSA. You still need to interact with a border agent even with Global entry and if they are texting or conversing with other agents you need to wait while they ignore you. Why can’t the government use E-gates like more enlightened countries?

TSA is horrible and saying that they've been "getting better" says nothing.

Who does it better? Just off the top of my head? Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, New Zealand. Germany is hit or miss, but that's more Frankfurt specific than anything.

I had the hideous experience of transit through DFW and MIA last week. Unsure of the split between TSA and CBP but all the lines were long, bore no relation to the wait times on the screens and the whole experience was just unpleasant. Additionally, what's the deal with checked bags having to be taken out of the system, walked round the corner and put back in? Another queue for no reason at all. Seems that learning from other countries about how to design good flows of traffic doesn't transfer too well.

That's CBP and different rules that TSA doesn't have much to do with. And yeah, it's pretty terrible (but has been true for arriving US as long as I've been flying). Sadly we do not have the idea of a real transit airport despite having some of the busiest airports in the world.

Agreed with Ben, TSA has gotten much much better and in my experience is easier to deal with than most similar foreign airport security (though to be fair, many of those folks are going by a strict DHS rulebook from 2001 days, so it's still "our" fault). Keeping in mind border security and airport security are separate things...
My experience: 10-15 countries a year, monthly travel.

Overall seems the non-precheck system has gotten much more advanced after much stuttering and wasted effort. The precheck system is absolutely solid now and except for the occasional trainee, nobody hassles me about the nail file or tweezers that some foreign airports still get upset about ("but it's pointy!" as if somebody could ever take down a plane with a nail file). I've had very short (grooming) scissors taken by foreign security a half dozen times, but not a 100x through precheck lanes, though our imaging is often superior (ie, they can see it's scissors on their color rotatable display).

Still room for improvement:
* Too much shouting, especially during tourist season.
* Too many different systems/rules as equipment rolls out unevenly and TSA folks clearly don't travel so they think their airport's rules are "normal"
* Precheck lanes need always be open, often they don't open until just before morning rush hour. Combining things and having a "I have pre-check" placard is silly.
* Need to get those liquid scanners into place everywhere. Absolutely no reason to not allow small to medium liquids through with current tech.
* Older airports have AWFUL workflow. Looking at you, Miami

With the plan to end the TSA now in place, I am starting to see more of the bad actors. One of the reasons I never signed up for TSA Precheck or Clear is that I don't fly domestically enough through any single airport to judge where the problems are going to be. I think I have a GlobalEntry rebate somewhere, but in foreign airports where I fly, the primary consideration is the type of people you're going to be surrounded by in a queue, and GlobalEntry actually doesn't help me in most circumstances. So I've always sort of looked at TSA Prcheck in that light - does it get me away from unwanted company or put me into more of it. Maybe they do have herpes. Why I don't fly Emirates or Singapore Airlines, bad enough, and you'd actually refuse an upgrade to first class.