MSPeconomist

TSA designs thhe procedures and in the case of the MSP fiasco, the configuration of security lines. Moreover, TSA refuses to document the procedures or do anything to make them uniform. TSA also allocates resources among airports, schedules screeners and determines opening times for PreCheck lanes, and to some extent determines whether the budget is spent on PR or overtime for screeners. So it is their fault.

pbarnette

Most of my interactions with TSA are nice enough. Some are more jovial than others, but I wouldn't say there is some endemic lack of "nice". Certainly, given the stress of the job, I think most do well enough.

Given that you seem to have so many problems, might I offer that you should consider your own interactions and whether that contributes to your problem? Hint: people tend to not be nice to people that are dismissive of them. Oh, I'm guessing you think you hide your contempt, but I doubt you are that good of an actor.

Well that is an untrue statement.

And the incremental costs of running flights at less than full capacity will far outweigh those "huge" savings.

Something wrong with the model? By that, do you mean economies of scale?

mnbp

All of these TSA actions are taken in the context of the constraints imposed upon TSA by Congress. Audits resulting in Congresional hue and cry over "imperfect" detection of prohibited items results in stricter enforcement at the checkpoint. Stricter enforcement takes more time. US economy improves, resulting in more air travel. Congress cuts TSA budget, and uses TSA-earmarked ticket taxes for other purposes, resulting in TSA staffing and overtime cuts.

How is this not ultimately up to Congress to resolve? Honestly, I'd like to know.

readywhenyouare

The issue is that at no point in the history of the TSA have they been an effective and efficient solution to airport security. It's time to get rid of them and start the healing process.

avcritic

For a HUB native who is on numbers/ratings high, my statement may seem untrue, but not to those who are forced to take an unnecessary connection at a bottleneck HUB.

What savings, if entire southern seaboard has to connect thru ATL, the amount of fuel, time and airport charges wasted is huge.

Same Saab 340/CRJ can do P2P without hub more efficiently.

We wouldn't be having this discussion if there are no issues at these unnecessary hubs.

UKtravelbear

You mean going back to the mish mash of private providers like before the TSA was created?

Do you think a private provider is suddenly going to have better trained staff and more sophisticated equipment and not expect to be paid for it.

HDQDD

They ordered them to replace smaller aircraft in their fleet. I don't expect their missions to be a whole lot different than they are today.

Except that there is. It's called making money. I suggest you read a book on/google: "airline deregulation" or the "hub and spoke system". That model doesn't just apply to airlines, it's used by rail, logistics, computing and many other businesses. Flying a plane non-stop from say DAY to SAT with a demand of say 5 PDEW just doesn't make sense and will never be sustainable. Now funnel those connections over ORD, ATL, DFW, etc. and you'll fill both flights with feed from all the other myriad of cities that are serviced by the hub.

As I said before, without the revenue advantages of funneling peeps through a hub, airfare would be much more expensive and there would be far fewer flights even in the major cities.

What does that even mean?

What if the PDEW doesn't support (and in most city pairs it won't)? So now we only have flights between the major cities. I fail to see how that's advantageous for anyone (pax, airline, investors).

orca15

We (the people commenting about the firing of a GM over long lines) aren't even having the same conversation as you.

What in the world do connections have to do with long lines at ATL? Those people aren't connecting.

And OBTW, as to your point, if DL didn't have a huge hub at ATL my travel life would be hell. Unless I am going to MCO or JFK or DTW, which I never do.

avcritic

Again for hub fans living near a hub, the logic will never get thru. They are happy if ATL is #1 in number of pax, or ORD is #1 in flight movements.

Is there O&D market between HUB-AnyTownUSA. Answer: No
Are 5.6 Million each travelling 20 trips in a year. Answer: No

The amount of back tracking and weird/missed connections imposed on passengers on a fair weather day in the name of hub connectivity is horrendous. One thunderstorm at ATL or winter storm AT BOS or wind at ORD makes it even worse.

Build hubs with unlimited capacity with minimum trouble to passengers or go P2P.

Grouchy

AMS-ATL-MEM (and all those int'l arrivals with connections) certainly have to pass security at ATL while in the past it was a AMS-MEM direct flight before they dehubbed it.

readywhenyouare

And that right there blows avcritic's argument. MEM-AMS was no longer viable after the hub was cut. The local market can't sustain a nonstop flight to AMS and can't even sustain a nonstop flight to some hub. MEM has no service to JFK, SLC, PHX, or SEA.

avcritic

Dehubbing is done based on management's will, nothing do to load factors. Once the non-stop is gone, pax have no option other than connecting at available hub.

Load factors are so high they cannot even rebook on same day, where is the question of route not being viable.

Tomorrow if they toss a coin and dehub MSP or DTW, is it because those airports have no passengers.

I am not against hubs, but there is an obsession going on without any thought process.

pbarnette

Nonsense. You claimed that there is "no reason" to connect passengers through hubs. That statement is factually incorrect.

What number of passengers each day fly between Dothan, AL and Sioux Falls, SD? Are you suggesting that an airline can efficiently serve Dothan > Sioux Falls P2P?

Considering the issues highlighted revolve primarily around passenger screening for O/D passengers, that comment makes no sense.

Look, you are clearly angry that you don't live in a hub. Have you thought about moving to a different city? I know that some people don't like that advice, but it seems to solve your problem.

RatherBeOnATrain

Another article in the Atlanta newspaper:
Link to the full article on an easily-circumvented paywall site.: My (not yours!) AJC - Kempner: ATL airport chiefs shouldn’t bother unpacking (Posted: 7:26 a.m. Tuesday, May 24, 2016)

dinanm3atl

So the Mayor fires the guy... what happened to the mayor saying if they don't fix the lines he personally would replace the TSA with a private service... pesky details I guess.