Blog Us A Blog

I had the exhilarating opportunity of visiting Florida over the New Year. As I live in Utah, this meant that I also had the exhilarating opportunity of flying on a Boeing aircraft, which also meant that I had the exhilarating opportunity of going through the mandatory security check at the Salt Lake City airport. The scene was a monument to the inefficiencies of government bureaucracy. After the horrid events of 9/11, the government used the crisis as leverage to expand its tentacles into the (semi-)private sector, destroying competition among airlines, which consequences air travelers now get to enjoy in the form of long lines and the unnecessary removal of metallic accessories. I don't know if government intended for air travelers to miss flights and/or be generally inconvenienced due to their (arbitrarily?) self-calculated security standards, but in all major airports I've visited, the security line wait can take anywhere from 20 to 50 minutes. The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) has done a wonderful job of allowing us the pleasure of waiting. What the government doesn't understand (or maybe just doesn't care about) is that dissolving the TSA would cause these long lines to disappear. "How is this possible?", you might ask- by the economic principle of competition. If each airline were responsible for its own security (a novel idea, I know!), then passengers would want to ride the airlines that have shorter security lines (or ones on which they feel safer, or both). This would give each airline an incentive to provide the safest, most prompt service. Because of government intervention in the current system, no TSA team member has any incentive to work efficiently or even safely. They get paid by the government no matter what, so why go the extra mile? However, airlines, inherently wishing to minimize costs, would find the most efficient way of examining passengers for dangerous objects. That leads to another point: are the current government-defined security standards even safe? Is carrying six oz. of shampoo in a gallon-sized bag instead of 3 oz. in a quart-sized bag dangerous? If airlines were allowed to decide their level of security, then they would also be responsible for any breach of security allowed on their airline. Furthermore, if the government left it up to the airlines to decide, different airlines could have different standards, which would also affect waiting time in security checks and overall customer likability. Each airline would find the optimal value of security, cost, and wait time for its passengers, instead of the current system, where the government has decided such for the airlines and passengers. It's unclear whether or not the infrastructure of current airports is conducive to allowing airlines free reign on security, but it most certainly would be easier for everyone involved if the TSA were disbanded and airlines were allowed to serve their passengers the way they deem necessary. In the case of airport security, the government has overstepped its bounds. -- Tyler Ransom