Thanks-- the motivation for writing this post was that quite a few folks have claimed or strongly implied that the only way lines are going to become excessively long is if there is a deliberate effort by TSA to make lines longer. I would contend that the queueing analysis shows this is simply not the case. If TSA has to cut its capacity, but does not make any managerial attempt to expedite the screening process, lines could get very long on their own due to inherent variability in screening times. In other words, it does not require any "active" work slowdown: simply a "passive" reaction of continuing to do the same thing after capacity is cut will cause long lines.

The debate over whether TSA ought to try to compensate for cuts in staffing rather than maintaining their current procedures is, in my humble opinion, perfectly legitimate, and should be confined to the appropriate forum.