Airport Insecurity

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Ben Franklin's statement, first published in 1759, is one that is used by some as a rallying cry against the Transportation Security Agency and its' passenger screening policies. In the wake of the recent attempt to blow up two cargo planes, they've intensified the passenger screening process even further than in the wake of the failed bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 last Christmas. After that failed attack, the full body scanners were fast-tracked into airport service.

While I am not a fan of the TSA (they are marginally better than the contractors that previously manned the security checkpoints), the whole idea of the National Opt-Out Day is short-sighted and a bit of a knee-jerk reaction against the increased security. The fact that the organizers of this act of civil disobedience have chosen one of the busiest travel days of the year (The day before Thanksgiving.) shows little regards towards their fellow passengers. Backing up the security lines and causing folks to miss flights is not a good way to make your point. Getting passengers upset because they missed their flight and the airline is unable to get them onto another flight until Thanksgiving Day all because you dislike airport security risks some blow-back from passengers.

The fact that airline unions are encouraging their members to opt-out as well is a bit selfish and egotistical. There's already one airline pilot whose flying career may be over due to refusing not only a full-body scan, but also a pat-down. Is losing your job over airport security really worth it? There are plenty of pilots that have been laid off that would probably be more than willing to fill that seat on the flight deck.

People seem to treat flying as an inalienable right when in fact, it is a privilege. If you can afford to buy a ticket, you can fly wherever you want to. However, in order to gain access to the gate areas, one must pass through security screening. Most people have to endure this on a daily basis in their jobs, as nearly all government buildings (Federal, State, & Local) require one to pass through a metal detector and have their belongings inspected in order to gain access to the building. Having to be screened in order to access a courthouse and having to be screened in order to access the gate area at an airport are very similar in nature. In both cases, it is to prevent people from smuggling items that could potentially kill or maim others. You wouldn't want someone smuggling a gun into a courtroom, and you wouldn't want someone smuggling one onto your airplane.

The four hijackings on 9/11/01 were the result of terrorists using the loopholes that were available to them (At the time knives under a certain length were allowed to be brought onboard an aircraft.). Pretty much every terrorist act involving commercial aircraft was the result of the terrorists taking advantage of a hole in the fence so to speak. The rash of hijackings in the 1960s and 1970s in the US involving attempts to send the plane to Cuba pretty much came to an end once passengers were required to pass through a metal detector. Same was true at many airports in Europe and in the Middle East during this same time period and allowed terrorists to hijack aircraft. The shoe bomber used a hole in the fence by have the bomb hidden in his shoe and thankfully he didn't have a lighter or a box of wooden matches or he would have succeeded in blowing up American Airlines flight 63. The underwear bomber last Christmas also used a hole in the fence and managed to get explosives onboard an aircraft. The failed Transatlantic aircraft plot in the summer of 2006 was also trying to exploit a hole in the fence, and as a result, we all have to deal with the rather silly 3 Ounce Rule (Well I can't take anything in a bottle bigger than three ounces, but I can take the same amount in a number of three ounce bottles.).

The TSA is trying to plug up all of the holes in the fence and people don't like it. How many more innocent people have to die before people understand that extremists who seek to destroy our way of life must be stopped before another drop of blood is spilled. If having to take off my shoes, my belt, my hat, my jacket, empty my pockets, pull out my laptop, and then be subject to a full body scan is what I have to do in order to get on a plane, I'll take the few minutes of inconvenience as I bought the ticket and going through the smoke and mirror-filled dog and pony show that is airport (in)security. While subjecting myself to this runs counter to some of my libertarian beliefs, sometimes we have to do things we do not like.

So to those of you who want to make the security lines even more screwed up during a busy holiday travel season, show some respect to your fellow passengers and just suck it up. The scanners are not going away and if you don't want to be subjected to them, either accept the pat-down that is the alternative or have the website for Greyhound or AMTRAK bookmarked, as a bus, a train or a car is the only option you have if you don't want to be subjected to airport screening. If you want to fly and not be subject to the screening process, become wealthy enough to be able to own or charter a private a/c.

An observation about online reviews.

I was just looking at some hotel ratings on Yelp and Trip Advisor of a hotel I recently stayed at in Las Vegas and got a chuckle at folks complaining about slow check-in service late at night (The hotel in question is a nice hotel, not some no-tell motel.). Let's see, the majority of guests show up in the afternoon and early evening, so hotels will have more clerks during those times. So if you're showing up at 1 am to check-in, don't be surprised if the hotel only has one or two desk clerks working at that time. If you're expecting five star service at a three or four star hotel, you're going to be disappointed. If you're expecting it at a two star hotel, you're going to be in for a rude awakening. If you want five star service, you've got to spend the $$$ for a place that is a five star establishment. Don't book at a Holiday Inn Express and expect the Mandarin Oriental. If you don't want to have to wait in a line to check-in, plan your arrival time better.

I've walked past my fair share of front desks in the middle of the night while out in Las Vegas (either coming in for the night or hitting the desk to check out and head to the airport for a 6 am flight) and the most desk clerks I've seen working is two, even at major hotels on the Strip. In some cases, it's just one person. I've stayed at hotels that seemed to never have more than one person working the check-in desk, even in the middle of the afternoon.

Personally, I don't take a lot of stock in user reviews on sites like Yelp, Trip Advisor, etc., unless there is a definite pattern in the reviews. If the recent reviews (within the last 60-90 days) tend to skew a certain way, I'd tend to believe them, especially if it's a swing from earlier reviews. If there's a overly glowing review in a sea of average or below average reviews, or a savagely negative one in a sea of above average or average reviews, I tend to look at them as either planted reviews or we're not getting the entire story (Folks will tend to leave out details, especially when said details makes them look bad.). As the saying goes, "your mileage may vary".