I think one of the problems is(and i KNOW the response this will get) is basically the mindset of those running their particular airport-what they don't seem to realize is, depending on the airport, you don't need all those people there except many five travel times a year, but the COST of having them their during the peak flying times is a lot of standing around the rest of the time-regardless of what y'all think, you do NOT want labor force to supply fill in during peak seasons just so we can downsize that much more...

i agree-checking tickets every five feet IS probably busy work(i know we don't do it at my airport, but one of my co-horts just came back from a trip to hawaii and told me she blasted them there for doing it)-they may not see it as such, but really, if you make it past the ticket checker, you should be good to go and your boarding pass really doesn't need to be looked at again unless we confiscate something prohibited...