prior to 9/11, as SLF I used to transit thru LAX and would go into the transit lounge. Now I have to get a ninety day visa to enter the lounge. Nothing else has changed except for the 90 minute line up. The exits are still alarmed, the staff still watch you, just as they used to. All this to wait while the jet is cleaned.
Now THAT is a regulation to complain about.
It has put quite a dent in the tech stops in Anchorage, apparently. It is such a hassle for foreign airlines who are merely gassing up there, many of them now stop in Toronto. The Doctrine of Unintended Consequences.
I am no fan of the TSA, and neither are any U.S. pilots I fly with.
My father did 31 years in this business, retired a NWA 747 captain, and if you had ever asked him to take off his belt and shoes (in front of his passengers, no less), I don't know whether he would have just laughed or slugged you. But now we just nod and mutter, while watching all those student-visa carriers traipse by.
But giving the TSA lists of "cleared" pilots sounds reasonable to me. Lord knows, it's hard enough to get cleared these days - a ten year FBI background check is just a start.... Might as well use the information.