Originally Posted by AisleSitter
I believe people are missing the point. There are two areas: the airline ticket-checking area, and the security checkpoint. Think of them as two hoops you have to jump through.
First, you jump through the airline ticket-checking hoop. Here, they have 2 lines: wealth and proletariat. This is controlled by the airlines.
That's the line that I'm talking about with respect to SFO. The non-TSA clowns jumped a herd of non-elites into this line, making for an unnecessary 10 minute wait for elites.
Next, you have the security checkpoint. Here, there is 1 line, that gets split up equally among the X number of screeners running simultaneously. This is controlled by the TSA, which is the US Government. Anyone who presents him/herself at the checkpoint is treated equally.
Not every airport handles it the same way. At SFO, there are two separate TSA security checkpoints that are physically isolated, i.e. there is no way for people on the non-elite line to get to the TSA inspection position on the elite line unless they enter the line at the boarding-pass screening position.
Once someone clears the first hoop, and are at the front, they have equal access to ALL of the checkpoint screeners.
That's fine at airports that have one large TSA station. SFO doesn't -- the TSA inspection for elites is physically isolated from the non-elite TSA inspection station (there's an escalator that goes between the two sections).
Decomposing Screener knows his job, and is doing it. He works for all of us. Hats of to you, sir. (ma'am?)
If Decomposing Screener is taking passengers after they've been through the boarding-pass screening line, yes. If he's jumping non-elites from their boarding-pass screening line to the elite boarding-pass screening line, he is not, and is inconveniencing a class of people that the airlines, who pay for the line, specifically do not want inconvenienced.
The last time I checked, the "airport security fee" tacked on to each ticket is the same for all tickets. The "elite line" ends where the TSA screening area begins.
So what? The last time I checked, my First Class ticket cost about 10 times what a restricted economy ticket costs. The airline pays for the elite queue, it's my ticket money that funds the airline.
Waiting in line is a social contract. The consensus is that a big shoving match/scrum is not a good idea. And so you follow the rules for the line you are in.
And it's the airline, not TSA, that sets the rules for line, and my contract is with the airline. TSA didn't violate the rules at SFO, the non-TSA clowns who screen boadring passes did. And they won't any longer, according to the SFO station manager.
If you find that it takes too long to get through security, get there earlier.
I've got a better idea -- if I find that airport personnel are violating the rules set by the airline which owns the facility, I'll complain to the airline. Evidently, United agrees with me.
Yes, the casual traveller takes longer to go through the line. But, by definition, they are in the minority!
They're not in the minority -- that's one of the reasons the non-elite line is longer.