I don't remember any case over the last 5 years or so TSA even asked me for a boarding pass. I think they gave up on that entirely. They do ask for an ID (and take a picture now - looks like bots are better at matching faces than TSA agents) but until you get to the boarding nobody now even looks at the boarding pass, so anything before the gate is freely accessible to anyone with an ID.

I’ve assumed you still have to have a ticket and they’re matching ID to the tickets in database. Anyone know otherwise? I can say, I asked the airline for a pass to accompany a passenger to their gate in ATL. If ID was enough I expect they would have told me so, but they gave me a paper pass and said it’s only good for one entrance into secured area.

I obviously can't verify it without taking undue risks, but I remember they used to ask to see the boarding pass, now they don't.

Then again, if they have this system where they can match me to a flight by ID, why they need any boarding passes at all? Just ask to see my ID again when boarding the plane, no? Why boarding passes still exist if this system is in place?

Blissfully, I have not flown since 2012.

Thanks for the updated TSA experience.

If you have precheck, TSA is pretty much not an issue now (unless you fly out of one of badly run airports where they are massively under-provisioned) - just ID check and quick metal detector pass usually does it.