Heads Roll, but No End in Sight to the TSA Mess

The long lines, missed flights, and traveler outrage have been front-page news for months. And there's little prospect that the bottleneck at the TSA's airport security checkpoints can be ameliorated in time to for the

summer travel crush

.

It's gotten so bad that one airline, American, has resorted to hiring its own security contractors to help speed up the processing.

It's a mess of major proportions.

And now—finally, some would say—someone is being held to account for the misery and lost hours the TSA's mismanagement has created.



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Under intense pressure from the government, from travelers, and from the airlines, TSA administrator Peter Neffenger yesterday announced the firing of Kelly Hogan, a top manager in the TSA's Office of Security Operations. And O'Hare Airport, where some of the system's longest lines have been reported, will get a new management team to oversee screening.

Problem solved? Hardly.

As reported by the

New York Times

, Hogan was paid $90,000 in performance bonuses, during a period that saw the TSA's performance deteriorate substantially. That suggests that the TSA as a whole has been complicit in the agency's failures; it's a systemic problem, not just a rogue employee. Replacing one administrator and reshuffling the org chart in Chicago are band-aids at best.

In a memo to TSA employees, Neffenger was reassuring: "These adjustments will enable more focused leadership and screening operations at critical airports in the national transportation system."

I don't buy it. You shouldn't either.



Reader Reality Check



What will it take to turn around the flailing TSA?