Originally Posted by
LAX_JOHN
Hey Carl:
I don't think fast and efficient (and polite and charming) matter as much as thorough and using the best technology to detect any threat.
I understand the odds are astronomical.
Thanks.
Oh, I forgot to mention the foreign airports I've departed from go through all your electronics by hand and really look at each item, and do this in about the same time it takes the TSA boarding pass checker to finish reading your boarding pass and ID. The TSA just puts your bag into the X-ray and then takes it back out if they don't recognize something; they then shunt you off to the side to wait for someone to check it by hand. Foreign airports, by contrast, go through all your electronic items as a matter of routine and manage to do this while keeping the line moving smoothly.
I have never had the impression that the TSA is more thorough than European airports, nor that they have better technology or know how to use the technology better.
Originally Posted by
GUWonder
I don't find the FRA airport security screeners to be polite and charming. I just find them to be more consistent on average in terms of "personality". I enjoy my banter with TSA screeners more than with their German-equivalent, but that's not really going to make a difference to calm the nerves of anyone.
People, processes and technology matter. Germany uses technology at airports that works on about the same level as is typical at US airports. When it comes to following processes/rules, Germany tends to do better than the US. When it comes to the "quality" of people staffing the screening checkpoint, I think the TSA screeners are no better than the German-airport screeners.
I've found foreign airport screeners to be polite and impersonal, and to follow the rules. Germans in particular LOVE rules. Inconsistent adherence to the rules of their job is a major deficiency of the TSA compared to airport screening operations in other countries.