Originally Posted by
GUWonder
The security paranoia of US airlines does result in my having a tendency to book away from US airlines as much as makes sense for my circumstances. When flying from overseas to the US on US airlines, the dog and pony show is worse than with various other airlines..
I actually have never encountered much "security paranoia" among US airlines -- except perhaps what is mandated by the DOT. And it's trivial stuff, like having see-through curtains between the cabins.
Rather, the "paranoia" is on the ground, and it's mandated for all flights to the USA. So it doesn't really matter which carrier you choose to get from point A to B (assuming point B is in the USA, and point A is not); you're basically going to get the same security.
And, of course, this can be different overseas from the USA. Leaving China for the USA, for example, I recently saw the USA liquids rule "enforced" at the gate of a UA flight by Chinese security agents asking pax to hand over any over-sized liquids they had as they boarded. You can probably guess how many folks reached into their bags to give up their illicit water bottles and oversized toiletry items.
