They also determined that more reliable and effective screening technologies exist, citing successes with enhanced pat down policies, mandatory juvenile cavity searches, and the full nude video screening booths known as Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT). The costs to maintain these AIT systems have also approached unsustainable levels. John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration, warned that AITs may be going the way of ETPs after the Obama administration rejected a proposal to allow passengers in line to view AIT scans of other travelers for 25 cents a minute.

“It’s an old idea,” Pistole said. “You can visit any bookshop on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and pay a similar amount for a similar experience, but no one’s complaining about that. Without discovering ancillary revenue streams, the TSA simply can’t keep these necessary safety protocols in place. I suppose it’s a whole lot cheaper to die. I mean, that’s the message I’m hearing.”