Originally Posted by
jalves
Not to defend the TSA, but they need a person because the "air lock" doors would not prevent somebody from coming from the opposite direction. All that person would need to do is wait until the outer doors open and people exit, then go inside the airlock and wait for the outer doors to close and the inside ones to open.
No person is needed. A sensor can tell if it's empty. Seen this type of door deployed outside the US before.