Originally Posted by
jkhuggins
For me ... based on only one data point, no. Traffic through an airport checkpoint doesn't proceed at a steady rate; there will be times of high-demand and times of low-demand. If TSA staffs its checkpoint for low-demand times, there will never be idle TSOs --- but there will be long checkpoint lines (at which point, the FT population will scream about the waste of their time). If TSA staffs its checkpoint for high-demand times, there will be moments when TSOs are idle (at which point, the FT population will scream about the waste of their tax dollars).
About the only thing constant is FT screaming about the TSA.
Very true, and this applies in any place with a fluctuating 'customer' base - McDonald's, bank drive-through lanes, movie theaters, DMV...
Somehow the rest of the world seems to have mastered this problem at airport checkpoints. I have honestly simply never ever seen the 'thousands standing around' security folks at any non-US airport. There are a fraction of the number of people and at any given time, they really all do seem to have a purpose. Of course, I haven't witnessed challenging positions like 'WTMD blocker' or 'walk around and bark TSO' or 'stand around waiting to do a grope TSO' or 'stand around prepared to gawk if anything interesting happens' or 'xray belt input rearranger' or 'groper monitor'.
(Note: sadly, the same appropriate staffing doesn't seem to extend to customs/immigration, either here or outside the US).