Originally Posted by
cbn42
You don't have to use Delta either. Why should Delta get to prioritize their top tier customers and thus further delay customers of other airlines? Unless the checkpoint only serves one airline, this appears to be unfair.
If all the airlines using the terminal agree, it's not unfair at all. If the terminal operator agrees because most of the airlines in the terminal agree, and those airlines are their best customers (i.e. airlines), it's not unfair at all.
Originally Posted by
cbn42
If the airport was owned by the airline, that would make sense. However, airports in the US are owned by local government authorities. The counters and gates may be owned or leased by the airlines, but the screening area is not.
They're owned and run by local government authorities, generally, which have pretty broad latitude how to run them. How to set up the lines, what vendors to allow, etc. etc. The TSA runs the security screening area.
Originally Posted by
cbn42
I consider screening to start when I get in line for screening. If someone does something suspicious while waiting in line, TSA has every right to intervene. That is what the BDOs used to do at many airports. How can a BDO talk to you if screening hasn't started?
Aukai isn't crystal clear on this, but consensus seems to be that screening actually starts (in terms of the point when screening has commenced, and you hence can't just turn around and leave) at the document checker. BDOs can work the lines (as utterly pointless as their efforts are), but you're not obliged to speak with them.