It seems possible that a few of the comments here fail the macro test.

Airlines ripping off people by asking for ID...Reality 1: most all airlines have lost money this year and several have or are at near bankrupcy. Reality 2: some passengers, many of which are represented on FT, fail to follow the rules set by the airlines. Reality 3: many of these people purposefully cheat the airlines and brag about it.

If the pricing is so out of wack, why is it that we do not have more successful start ups?

As an aside, lemonthrower, the grocery stores are constantly dealing with people stealing food, trying to pass expired coupons, trying to use coupons for items that they have not bought, eating product while in the stores without paying, switch price tags where bar codes are not involved, open product to touch/smell/ or whatever and have children that break stuff and move on.

One of America's strengths is one of its weaknesses. Anyone can complain, and we all do. There are few problem solvers, just complainers. (Note my first comment suggesting the lady be sent back to the front desk and have her husband paged, so that he could bring her ID was a solution, I believe). Rules are what make us civilized. Unfortunately, too many people believe themselves to be to good to obey the rules, they just cheat and complain. Not very civilized?

Security checks are unfair, they try to keep killers off our planes. Profiling is unfair, it tries to concentrate limited resources to solve a problem, instead of delaying everyone in the name of equality. ID checks are unfair, they try to keep people from defrauding airlines?...silly when you look at it.

None of these comments are aimed at anyone in particular (except the grocery example for which I am very familiar), but it will likely start a flame war from those who feel their right to cheat is being challenged.