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

Maybe this is a hot take, but am I the only one who actually thinks that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does a pretty good job nowadays, and that the United States is one of the more pleasant places to go through security, all things considered?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be some huge TSA cheerleader, but I’ve seen absolutely massive improvements over the past decade, and I think the TSA deserves credit for that.

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The arguments against the TSA

Lately I’ve seen some bloggers bring up the TSA in a negative way, partly in the context of the recent political developments. For example, Gary Leff at View from the Wing wrote about President Trump firing TSA Chief David Pekoske, and about his “controversial tenure.” Separately, View from the Wing asked if we’re just “settling for long lines and 95% failure rates?” Meanwhile Kyle Stewart at Live and Let’s Fly asked if new Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Nome can “fix the broken TSA with common sense?”

While I of course have my own political beliefs, I’m trying to come at this topic non-politically. I think Pekoske did an impressive job leading the TSA, and keep in mind that he was appointed by Trump and kept his job under Biden, and was in charge of the organization for eight years. So this is about as bipartisan as it can get (despite him now being fired at the start of Trump’s second term).

The general arguments against the TSA largely seem to center around “but muh freedom,” and citing 10 year old statistics (that’s not specific to one person, but I’ve seen the argument from many). For example, in December 2024, View from the Wing wrote about how the TSA hasn’t actually improved much, and about how the TSA isn’t good at catching dangerous items, citing a 95% failure rate… from 2015:

TSA isn’t actually very good at catching dangerous items. The TSA’s own tests have shown 95% failure rates finding items going through the checkpoint on multiple occasions though they’ve done as well as finding one out of five. 

Or he argues that “we still have to show papers at government checkpoints” and have to “submit to full body imagining” to “exercise a constitutionally-protected right to travel.” Which… I mean… okay?

Live and Let’s Fly similarly cites the TSA routinely missing 80-95% of weapons, the liquids ban, the need to remove shoes, security being more invasive than necessary, and cash seizures, as being among the weakness of the TSA. And he mentions things like this, which just kind of confuse me:

If anyone with $189 can join CLEAR and opt out of the more invasive security measures, why not streamline all TSA checkpoints, and keep a smaller but more targeted staff with spot checks?

The only thing you’re skipping with CLEAR is that you get facial recognition instead of an ID check, so I’m not even sure what this is referring to? I just find many of the arguments against the TSA to not be very cohesive, and to have way too much rhetoric.

My arguments in favor of the TSA

Is the TSA perfect? Of course not. Thinking any large organization (whether it’s the TSA, Delta, or Hilton Honors) is perfect would show a level of bias that’s not worth engaging with.

But let’s look at the TSA from the perspective of the average person using it, rather than based on some academic exercise about personal freedoms and a bloated budgets (which is true of just about every government organization).

I’d argue that the TSA has improved massively over the years, and going through security in 2025 is so much more pleasant than in 2010. For example:

• TSA PreCheck is an absolute game changer that has consistently made security efficient and painless; yes, you need to register and pay a fee, but over 40 million people participate in the program, and those are also the people who travel the most, so it makes up a large percentage of those using checkpoints
• The TSA has done a great job managing wait times, even for those without PreCheck; the latest statistics I’ve seen (from late 2024) show that 99% of travelers wait less than 30 minutes in standard screening lines, while 99% of TSA PreCheck members wait less than 10 minutes
• I love how you often don’t even have to show your boarding pass or give the agent your ID, but rather you just insert your driver’s license into the machine, and then you’re verified through facial recognition; you no longer have to have your boarding pass endlessly scribbled on either
• During the pandemic, we saw so many organizations have meltdowns due to staffing shortages, while the TSA has done a remarkably good job matching staffing to demand

Like I said, I’m not arguing that the TSA is perfect. However, security is so much more predictable and streamlined than 15 years ago, even for those without TSA PreCheck.

Are there areas for improvement? Of course! But in all honesty, in what country would you rather go through security? I hear some people say “make it like Singapore!” Is that really what you want, though? In most terminals in Singapore, security is at the individual gate, so if you buy a bottle of water in the terminal, you can’t even take it onboard. And if you’re worried about individual freedoms in comparison to the United States, maybe Singapore isn’t for you either.

Sure, maybe Japan has more pleasant security, but… that’s because everything in Japan is more pleasant. But I just think that most arguments against the TSA now are academic and sort of soap-boxy, rather than recognizing the huge progress that has been made, and how much more pleasant it is than it used to be.

Now I’ll get off my soap box…

Bottom line

While it’s easy to criticize the TSA, I appreciate the massive amount of progress that has been made with the organization over the years. Going through security in the United States is so much more pleasant than it was a decade ago. Of course that’s especially true if you have PreCheck, but even for others, it’s much rarer to see long wait times.

Personally, I give huge credit to TSA Chief David Pekoske for the direction the organization took under his tenure. Whoever replaces Pekoske, I hope they continue leading the organization forward. There are definitely areas for improvement, but things are trending in the right direction.

Where do you stand on the TSA? Do you think it’s just awful, or do you appreciate the major improvements over the years?