Sure, the inadequate airport facilities are part of the problem. Facilities have generally been sufficient for the older approach where airlines were responsible for security and have had huge problems scaling up. I think the airport really gives space, and tsa decides how to use it, how many scanners to set up, how many people to have on duty at any time, etc. It doesn’t help that it’s one more entity to coordinate with for airports As terminals are remodeled over the years, they have been getting better. However many of us still feel like we need to get to airports two hours ahead of our flights and expect to spend most of that in the security line

Personally I’m surprised it hasn’t caused a terrorist attack. If “terrorist” is largely about how many people you can terrorize … Instead of everyone being scattered across many gates where they can’t be reached without going through the airport and dealing with security, now you have hundreds of people clustered near the entrance, seemingly much more vulnerable, for a much larger attack. It seems like an obvious security hole and none of the security theater addresses it