4 ms·

Here's my anecdote. It was really good, as someone who flew pre 9/11. I remember reaching Logan airport 20 minutes before my scheduled flight in 2001 thanks to

by deodar 3y ago

Here's my anecdote. It was really good, as someone who flew pre 9/11. I remember reaching Logan airport 20 minutes before my scheduled flight in 2001 thanks to Boston's traffic. I walked to the gate unimpeded (nothing to check in). Zero stress. Part of it is also that flights used to be much less overbooked and the overall experience was better and this isn't just nostalgia. However I don't think it's completely fair to blame the TSA for the worsened experience. The threat model has changed since then. Add to that shrinking seats, worse customer service, more crowded airports, and the experience is much worse. A few years back, we decided to minimize air travel and take a lot more local vacations. Yes, we miss flying but at some point the hassle exceeded the desire to visit exotic locales.

shermantanktop 3y ago
Europe, mid-1970s: Bader-Meinhof is in full swing; Palestinian, Armenian, and other groups were planting bombs. Plane hijacking was a new tactic with much news coverage. The modern age of assassination hysteria that started with JFK was still going. Did we fly like those nostalgic pics of businessmen and their wives smoking and eating steak? No, we stood like scared refugees, with heavily armed military personnel and German shepherds walking around scanning the crowd. I was a little kid in Zurich but remember it well. 9/11 may feel like a turning point in airport security, but it just brought to America what has been happening in other places at other times. And apparently made it permanent.
pixl97 3y ago
Eh also add that most years number of people traveling by flight increases. 2009 and 2020-2021 were outliers. We're dealing with around 20% more fliers than 2000 but most major destination airports have not expanded in kind to deal with the additional traffic. Also add in housing incursion to most airports where development has got closer making it near impossible for current airports to expand.
chrismcb 3y ago
There are lots of issues with flying. Fees galore, fewer amenities on the plane, smaller seats, etc. Yeah, you can't blame any of that on TSA. But having to arrive at the airport several hours before my flight, yeah I can blame that on TSA or it's equivalent counterpart in foreign countries. But what is worse is there is no obvious upside for TSA. It costs time and money with no apparent increase in safety. In fact the only time I'm unsafe is when I'm going through the security line. That is standing in a bottleneck next to barrels of suspected explosives and letting my bags out of my sight.

by deodar 3y ago

shermantanktop 3y ago

Europe, mid-1970s: Bader-Meinhof is in full swing; Palestinian, Armenian, and other groups were planting bombs. Plane hijacking was a new tactic with much news coverage. The modern age of assassination hysteria that started with JFK was still going. Did we fly like those nostalgic pics of businessmen and their wives smoking and eating steak? No, we stood like scared refugees, with heavily armed military personnel and German shepherds walking around scanning the crowd. I was a little kid in Zurich but remember it well. 9/11 may feel like a turning point in airport security, but it just brought to America what has been happening in other places at other times. And apparently made it permanent.

pixl97 3y ago

Eh also add that most years number of people traveling by flight increases. 2009 and 2020-2021 were outliers. We're dealing with around 20% more fliers than 2000 but most major destination airports have not expanded in kind to deal with the additional traffic. Also add in housing incursion to most airports where development has got closer making it near impossible for current airports to expand.

chrismcb 3y ago

There are lots of issues with flying. Fees galore, fewer amenities on the plane, smaller seats, etc. Yeah, you can't blame any of that on TSA. But having to arrive at the airport several hours before my flight, yeah I can blame that on TSA or it's equivalent counterpart in foreign countries. But what is worse is there is no obvious upside for TSA. It costs time and money with no apparent increase in safety. In fact the only time I'm unsafe is when I'm going through the security line. That is standing in a bottleneck next to barrels of suspected explosives and letting my bags out of my sight.