In the aftermath of 9/11, the government has to be seen doing "something". This was the something.
Then, in the following years, the TSA evolved into a welfare program for veterans, because here in the US we can't dream of just giving people money, we have to invent bullshit jobs that make society worse.
The problem is that society has placed the janitorial job at the bottom of the list of wanted jobs. You know, the jobs immigrants are stealing
No one pays for this work. Give people an appropriate salary and benefits like TSA workers get, and there will be no problem.
Also, TSA worker is negative status.
Someone mentioned upthread this is a job for veterans because we won’t pay UBI or similar. It’s status enough, in some cases (“make work for veterans”.
https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/factsheets/tsa-numbers
>Nearly 20 percent of TSA employees are veterans or still proudly serving
That trailing qualification tells us that % of TSA employees still serve - but in a way that is other than proudly.
No, that might have been true then, but the real reason is the same that Airlines suddenly unlearned how to group people who book togehter to sit together unless they reserve booking. The security theator is expensive to run, but it's less expensive than what you make selling more expensive methods of avoiding the security theather.
Airlines don't want you to have a nice and easy travel, unless you've paid the appropriate primum. They are perfectly happing intentionally pissing off 98% of their travelers to maintain the 2% who pay extra. And when you zoom out, that also means that what you pay for the premium tickets isn't to pay for extra luxery, its to pay for the intentional annoyance of everyone else.
The situation is not dissimilar to how power tool companies would not deploy SawStop technology because that would make it clear to consumers that said companies knew their products were unsafe and would expose them to millions / billions in liability claims.
https://www.aboutlawsuits.com/sawstop-boycott-lawsuit-ruling...