Originally Posted by
Boggie Dog
The airlines, baggage and ramp workers, fuelers, food service, and all of the other jobs around the airports seem to be able to manage these variations with the exception of TSA.
Why is that?
As much as I'm a critic of TSA, this comparison isn't fair. All the other jobs you name can overstaff their positions in order to be able to handle peak load without anyone complaining about them when they're underused. A ramp worker with nothing to do can hide out in the break room, so nobody sees the idleness. A food service worker with nothing to do stands at the counter and waits for another customer; nobody seems to mind if McDonalds has a bunch of its employees standing and doing nothing, if in fact there's nothing to be done at that moment.
A TSO with nothing to do, however, becomes a poster child for "Thousands Standing Around". It becomes a convenient image for those who already dislike the TSA to put forward as evidence against them, when it's really just the ebb and flow of normal work cycles.
So, if y'all want to criticize the TSA for long waits at peak times, y'all have to give up the right to complain about overstaffing at off-peak times.
(Not that there isn't a host of other things to complain about when it comes to TSA.)