Extra security at Qantas boarding gate for USA Flights

[elanshin]

It is a US requirement so it applies to all airlines. Ridiculous, particularly for anyone who has the SSSS (I had it recently) - no benefit going to the front of the line, they checked me, kept me in thier small 'pen' area and I had to plead with them to let me board.

I am genuinely curious if they actually find anything or deny anyone boarding because the whole thing is a waste of time.

I'm sure they do from time to time. There are supposedly some conditions that will trigger the SSSS as well as it being random, kind of like some combination of circumstances will profile you for customs to pay more attention.

The other thing is it adds another layer of deterence. Oftentimes the most effective defence is deterring people from actually trying to do something (so your real positive hit rates may seem lower bht you've stopped people before they even got to the airport).

Think like RBT. Part of it is to catch people drink driving. The other half is to deter people with unknown random checks.