From its inception, the TSA has, in my opinion, been an ineffective nightmare. From putting random people on the no fly list for reasons that are entirely unclear, to using brittle security measures that can be thwarted with an effective plan; they have demonstrated time and again that what we have is not security, but what the experts call "Security Theater."
I have a good solution to this mess that will not be more costly, will not inconvenience millions of air travelers and scare the hell out of the bad guys.
The main weakness of our current system is that we are screening everyone. This is a static security measure and will eventually fail when someone figures out how to penetrate the defensive tactics. Someone will succeed because they have perfect knowledge about how the system works. It's only a matter of time.
And the TSA watch list is a complete joke because it is not tied to any specific counter measures when someone on the watch list tries to fly. There have been cases when people on the no fly list were allowed to fly because airline personnel made the decision. Huh?
So here's the simple system. Set up an Air Marshall screening station and funnel anyone and everyone on the watch list or the no fly list through there when they try to fly. This creates an ACTIVE security measure because now the lowlife has to get past not some bored security people going through the motions, but an actual police officer who will be giving this person all of their attention.
Getting some disguised device past passive screening is one thing. Getting it past someone who is going to the extra effort to look for it is something else entirely.
If it's obvious to the air marshal that the suspected person cannot possibly be terrorist material and must be on the list by mistake, they can remove them and free up the system for actual criminals.
This last attempted terrorist attack might very well have been stopped at the airport by such a system. The person would have been flagged by the TSA system, they would have been directed to the Air Marshal Screening Station and they would have started to get nervous and exhibit suspicious behavior, prompting a thorough search which would probably have discovered the bomb.
I think this idea merits serious review. We would then be able to tone down the ridiculous and ineffective over-security we have now while having a system that was 100 times as more likely to stop an attack.
How about it?