> even if there _is_ a tedious process, at least everything feels efficient

What does this actually mean?

There’s no security officers sitting on their phones playing some game and chatting to each other, a common occurrence in SEA airports.

But I bet they have better bedside manners than TSA personnel.

I really feel for the TSA “agent” who has to just sit and make sure nobody goes the wrong way through the “exit only” corridor that leads out of the terminal.

I tend to agree. In the last ten years or so, the TSA operations have markedly improved. I’m saying this as someone who flew 80k-100kmi/yr for the last 15yr.

Once precheck became a thing, time to go through security is almost always less than 5m.