Here's Why the TSA Is So Terrible

This weekend, I flew to Chicago for my 15th (!!!) business school reunion. I will not tire you with tales of the drinking and hijinks that ensued, mostly because this being our 15th, the activities were more along the lines of swapping child photos and nursing a third beer. It was on the way home that the events of columnizing interest occurred: I found myself in the middle of what I thought was a confused crowd, and turned out to be the line for security. Said line was, according to reports from classmates, running at least 90 minutes. Dozens of people were stranded overnight when the long security lines caused people to miss their flights.

Nor is this an anomaly. The problem is occurring all around the country at busy airports. The TSA is blaming inadequate staffing, but government bureaucrats always blame inadequate staffing, since agency headcount is generally a good proxy for “importance of the boss of said agency.” As far as I was able to tell from where I stood, all the scanners seemed to be operating, making me wonder what, exactly, extra people would have done, since no matter how many staffers you assign, only one person can pass through each checkpoint at a time. Besides, the number of passengers is not actually up at O’Hare airport that much, according to the latest numbers I could find.