Lubbock Left

I recently returned from some significant travel, and I have been reflecting on the experience. In doing so, I came across the website MyBadFlight.com and browsed some stories for fun and catharsis.

Here’s a real gem:

She handed me my bag, my hoodie, my boarding pass, my shoes, and id. Have a nice flight Miss, she said. Okay, I said. Thanks. Didn’t give her a dirty look or anything. Given the quality time we had spent without the social aid of trousers, I figured we were a little closer than we had been before, and so I asked her why I had been searched. She paused, clearly uncomfortable. Well, you fit the profile of a student extremist, she said tugging at an earlobe. Okay, I said. Have a nice day, she said. Okay, I said, and walked to my gate.

(emphasis mine)

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the work that TSA employees do, and I have yet to encounter a rude TSA employee (which is remarkable given the environment in which they work).

However, our policies for airport security should be less reactionary. Right now the design of airport security policy seems to respond to media events. College campus shooting? Profile “student extremists.” Attempted shoe bomber? Take your shoes off and no gels in carry-ons. We need a sensible, top-down, publicly debated airport security policy that is designed with the end result in mind.

And I’m not even covering the many problems with modern airlines, like overbooked flights, canceled flights, anticompetitive practices, and so forth. We need a “passenger bill of rights” to address these kinds of problems.

It’s also worth mentioning that, for the mega-rich, airport security problems and airline hassles simply do not exist. Those that can afford to fly in a private jet encounter no security screening, no waiting, and no grief from the airlines.