Thing is, though, you only seem to think that any problem anyone experiences with TSA is self-inflicted, and that's very far from the truth. I don't think that you think TSA is perfect, but if there are enough people saying the same thing repeatedly, doesn't it even raise the possiblity that maybe, just maybe there's something to what they're saying?

TSA only ever shares its side of the story when it benefits it or when it has to do damage control.

Ever think that maybe, just maybe, TSA should do something to fix itself? It's possible that this lady brings a lot of it on herself. It's also quite possible that she could be complying with the airline's recommendations, showing up at the recommended window and still misses the flight.

You've already seen people in here state that they've either missed or nearly missed flights at PWM because they don't have their acts together. I've flown there and I couldn't believe the lines there for such a small airport that has mostly RJ's flying into it. It was totally unacceptable.

I dispute that. Many others here do too. You tend to ignore a lot of material that has debunked your statements. Or you have the tunnel vision that how everything is in your world is how it is everywhere else.

See above.

Ok, so it's ok for you to call someone's argument BS (whether a poster on here or what's in article), but no one else can. Got it ...

I read it. One lane alone was a TSA failure plain and simple. I don't know how you can spin that any other way.

ID is still a bottleneck though. However, at other places where the line isn't the bottleneck, is it really necessary?

As others have posted (which you may have missed or just ignored it) is that the long ID checks HAVE caused delays and even increased lines while the lines were short to nonexistent once past the ID checkers. If like at BWI's D gates they have 2 ID checkers yet they have 4 lanes open, I hope you can see that this IS a critical path issue and CAN and DOES cause delays.

Depends on what your definition on time is. If I show up with plenty of time to spare (well beyond the airline's recommended window), then yes, it's not my fault. If I show up at the terminal 30 minutes prior to departure, that's a whole other ball game.

Travel doesn't have to be a hassle, nor should anyone have to get to the airport 3-4 hours early simply because TSA doesn't have its act together.

You lost me here. Which front desk? The hotel's? What if they're wrong? What if you go by what your airline says and you still miss your flight?

Odds are that the person at the front desk doesn't fly very much.

So something can only happen once and it's an argument? And if something happens repeatedly it's automatically her fault? Geez, no wonder TSA thinks it can get off scott-free. Blame the pax! Problem solved.

Must really suck to be one of those people who share a name with someone on the No Fly or SSSS list when they get hassled all the time. Must be their fault that they have a common name and they had better change it.

Super

in a perfect world yes
matters to me because there are .......s in this world that will use this I'm late excuse to put themselves towards the head of line when I, and it would appear lupine, get to the airport with plenty of time to get through a security/check-in line.

It is truly rare in my experience that someone is late due to circumstances beyond their control.

--

Wow. I'm stunned to come back to this thread and read your comments. I thought I'd laid out a reasonable and competent explanation of how I, too, as a VFF flying out of PWM with great frequency also have the same experiences here. Why were you so quick to become aggressive and disregard what I'd presented?

I'll say again that PWM has some serious TSA operational issues with the early morning outbound bank of flights which causes the pax TSA line to become occasionally longer than ONE FULL HOUR (!!!) after about 4:30am.

If you consider that exaggeration, then I don't know what else to say. I have better ways to spend my time than to come to this thread and generate false tales. I'm pointing out a serious deficiency that is well known by those using PWM as a departure point with any frequency.

To suggest that there might be elite TSA lanes here in PWM is absurd. Can you name three other air facilities the size of PWM that can boast elite TSA lanes???

Equipment failure is not an excuse. The TSOs should show up a half an hour earlier than the earliest flyers, inspect the equipment, and when there is a failure, which inevitably happens, should formulate a plan so that the flow of passengers is not hindered. Now THAT'S professionalism.

Passengers should not have to be inconvenienced because of what is primarily and purely TSA's problem.

Short-staffed? Hire more staff. Equipment failure? Fix it. Too many passengers? open up more lines. There is NO EXCUSE, absolutely NONE, that I should have to get to the airport a 1PM to board a 4PM flight because TSA can't get its act together.