Sorry, sad, but it is so. One of the biggest issues is the "does *he* look like a bad guy?" concept, which eliminates 50%+ of the population, women, and further disregards people over 50.

Additionally, until recently, onboard, the economy passengers were more likely to be the "bad people" and the front of the plane "trusted friends".

People's preconceptions and stereotypes (forwards and backwards) have to be shaken out, and hard!