While I agree it's nonsense, I'm curious what would change without harming the personal security of everyone involved? I mean this system has many flaws but no one can steal a plane again and crash it into innocent people right?
In the past quarter, TSA intercepted an average of 16.8 firearms per day, 93% of which were loaded. I'm quite happy with that many less guns on my flights (imagine what it would be like if there was no check - this is just from people who forgot that carrying onboard is not allowed).
People forgetting they are carrying a loaded firearm into an airport feels like a pretty US specific problem, and there are ways to screen for guns without the massive inconvenience that is TSA. Other parts of the world still have security checks at airports, just a lot more efficient.
Even if that’s true, which I’m very skeptical of, the TSA has little to do with that. The armored and locked cockpit doors? Sure. Air marshals? Possibly.
But the TSA has absolutely no bearing on whether or not a plane gets hijacked. It is far too easy to circumvent.
As someone who carries a 20 cm metal rod through airport security every time and has not seen a single warning light ever popping up because of that, it is quite difficult for me to understand how the airport security is supposed to add safety against anyone who is willing to spend any time working around it - and who is motivated.
(For the curious, there is a titanium plate in my body due to an accident)
Most roller bags have 20cm rods built into the handles.
The TSA explicitly allows hand tools up to 17cm (7 in.)
I think that at this point the TSA is more interested in explosives since hardened cockpit doors, and passenger willingness to intervene have pretty much killed takeover style hijackings.
That's why they use the full body scanner at most airport security now. One of those detected a small piece of scrap paper in my back pocket that I had to pull out and show to security. They showed me the image and even the shape of the paper was clear. For sure those scanners can distinguish between metal in your arm and taped to your arm.
