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Blame the terrorists. The TSA exists for one reason: to take the insurance risk of another September 11th sized attack without grinding the air travel industry

Blame the terrorists. The TSA exists for one reason: to take the insurance risk of another September 11th sized attack without grinding the air travel industry to a halt. No private company could possibly afford the liability insurance for "our guards allowed a few guys with box cutters to kill thousands of people" risk. Paying them well enough to actually do a good job is impracticable at the scale of the US air travel system[1]. So the TSA was created so that the Federal Government would bear the risk, but the pay was not really improved over the private contractors who did the job for as little as possible pre-September 11th. [1]: Many people talk about the Israeli system, especially when they are trying to justify racial profiling here in the US. What they fail to grasp is that the scales are radically different. Total air passenger #'s in Israel in 2018 was roughly 20% of just Atlanta Hartfield-Jackson, and it was basically all at one airport- US carriers carry more passengers every 10 days than fly in and out of Israel in a year. That means that individual attention is possible in ways that are not in the US context.

komali2 7y ago
How do you feel about the idea that the 9/11 terror attacks are virtual impossible in a post-9/11 world? Remember that pre-9/11, plane hijackings meant you would get landed and then used as a bargaining chip for a ransom. So, now passengers know a hijacking attempt is a fight for their life (whereas before the recommended advice was to sit tight and let the hijackers do their thing). Also, now, cockpit doors are reinforced and pilots won't open them for hijackers, no matter the cost.
- mandevil 7y ago
  I agree that a 9/11 style attack will never work again: it didn't even work for the fourth plane on the day of, leave alone in the future. But I am explaining the business case for the TSA, why it exists and is the way it is.

komali2 7y ago

How do you feel about the idea that the 9/11 terror attacks are virtual impossible in a post-9/11 world? Remember that pre-9/11, plane hijackings meant you would get landed and then used as a bargaining chip for a ransom. So, now passengers know a hijacking attempt is a fight for their life (whereas before the recommended advice was to sit tight and let the hijackers do their thing). Also, now, cockpit doors are reinforced and pilots won't open them for hijackers, no matter the cost.

mandevil 7y ago
I agree that a 9/11 style attack will never work again: it didn't even work for the fourth plane on the day of, leave alone in the future. But I am explaining the business case for the TSA, why it exists and is the way it is.