Long security lines snaked into baggage claim areas and parking garages at some U.S. airports this weekend, a possible indicator of more widespread travel problems as the latest government shutdown drags on.

That kind of disruption, while not yet widespread, is not a concern that typically surfaces at San Francisco International Airport, the largest of nearly two dozen U.S. airports where screening checkpoints are staffed by private contractors under a little-used federal program that allows airports to outsource security screenings while maintaining TSA oversight.

Because contractors’ pay comes from a federal contract, it often continues even when the government shuts down.

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[–] 20 points 6 months ago (4 children)

The TSA is security theater, its effectiveness has been documented as notoriously useless with not finding any legitimate threats. Just confiscating things from people that look like weapons.

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  • [–] 14 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    I have to take certain tools with me on my business trips, and I've learned to take a cheap Home Depot pliers because they occasionally get confiscated for being 1/4" too long. I started buying these cheap $3 pliers after my $25 pair got confiscated.

    How am I supposed to hijack a plane with a pair of pliers? Why is a 7" pair unable to hijack a plane, but a 7 1/4" pair can?

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