Airport lines aren't the biggest worry
On the day EgyptAir Flight 804 crashed in what could be a terror attack, Transportation Security Administration honchos were at Chicago's Midway Airport trying to push the message that intolerably long lines would move faster if passengers prepared better by proactively dumping their water bottles and getting out their laptops.
The two- to three-hour security lines got their own hashtag - #HateTheWait - that grabbed attention away from TSA's real problem: The revelation a year ago that Homeland Security agents posing as passengers got weapons past TSA agents in 67 out of 70 tests, for a 95 percent failure rate.
The 2015 findings got TSA acting administrator Melvin Carraway dumped. The 2016 long lines got TSA head of security Kelly Hoggan reassigned.
The safety lapses were, and are, beyond sobering. That we have to wait long hours in line for screening that might not be effective is a side issue. TSA chief Peter Neffenger on Wednesday offered some solutions, saying part-time agents at O'Hare Airport are being offered full-time work and others are being hired to add 58 new officers this week and 300 by mid-August.
Adequate staffing obviously is crucial. Some other steps could help keep the focus on security. Among them:
• Check more baggage. Carry-ons not only slow screening lines, they distract TSA officers who should be focusing on whether you have explosives, not on whether your shampoo bottle has four ounces. In urging airlines to suspend checked-baggage fees for the summer, several U.S. senators, including Democrat Dick Durbin of Springfield, pointed to TSA statements that 27 percent of baggage going through passenger checkpoints would be checked if not for fees. An airline industry group disputes that, but a summer is plenty of time to tell who's right.
• Fix PreCheck. TSA says not enough people have signed up to be pre-vetted for its trusted-traveler program. Something's wrong with the price, the promise of faster screening or the application process, and it should be straightforward to fix it.
• Step up undercover checks. The 2015 results point up the need for constant, rigorous tests to see how well security is working.
And about that unfortunately timed demonstration at Midway: TSA caught a little ridicule but ultimately was right. All of us toeing the line on TSA rules saves time - for passengers, but especially for security agents. Let's keep their focus on the task that's vitally important.