letter to the editor in Raleigh paper:

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/...-9067627c.html
Time for a better measure of RDU lines?

Regarding your July 24 article "Navigating RDU":
I believe the wait times shown for Raleigh-Durham International Airport in the government data are flawed.

I have, on two occasions, been selected as a "timer." As I arrive at the security line I'm handed a slip of paper that has been time-stamped. It says "TSA is measuring the time to get through security, in an effort to speed up your trip. Please hand this notice to the TSA officer after you exit security."

As a frequent traveler, I often leave on Saturday afternoon and return on Saturday mornings (slow air travel times) rather than Friday night. When I was handed the notice, I immediately thought it was "cheating" to do the measurements on a Saturday afternoon rather than a typical weekday, but I dismissed the thought, knowing that they may do measurements every day.

Also, I know that there are two security checkpoints at Terminal A, and since the first one is usually crowded (and was on this Saturday) I went to the farther one. When I was halfway through the line, the TSA officer took the notice back from me and time-stamped it. I didn't say anything about it at that time. (I have dates and times to back up all my claims).

For the next few weeks, I took notice of the timing system. I never saw it being used at rush hour.

About a month later, again on a Saturday, I was handed a slip, again time-stamped. I was in the line for about 10 minutes and the TSA officer walked over and took it back from me. I said "I'm not through security yet." She didn't say anything and then stamped it again. I said, "Hey, that's not accurate. I'm still in line here." She said, "Sir, do you want to fly today? Then please mind your own business." I made a few more complaints and she walked through security to the airport side.

While going through security, I asked a few officers who the lady was. They said she was the supervisor. When I got through (timed as 12 minutes and 15 seconds after the time-stamp) I approached her and said I thought she was "gaming the system" and that doing measurements on a Saturday afternoon and at the shorter of the two Terminal A lines was simply cheating. Further, that taking the time slip away from me before I even entered the security area was simply wrong. I asked that she correct the time to show the additional 12 minutes it took me to get through.

At that point, a police officer approached and told me, "Pal, you don't tell her how to do her job. And if you say one more word, you are not flying today, and I'll put you under arrest." I walked away.