<OT> I was on a flight a couple weeks ago that was cancelled because the autopilot wasn't working properly! </OT>

Back to the subject, how many FAMs are normally on on a flight? Is it a passenger to FAM ratio? My concern is that if this to be an effective tool, you would need a good amount of marshalls on each and every flight. Chances are anyone organized enough to successfully hijack a plane is not only travel as a group, but trained in a similar manner as an FAM. Unless these guys are Rambo (1980's Rambo, not 2007), wouldn't there be a good chance they would be still be outnumbered and overcome?

For me, part of the issue is that our policies tend to be so reactive rather than proactive. Guy tries to ignite shoes, shoes get x-rayed separately. Group investigates using liquid explosives, liquids ban goes into effect. From the level of the average citizen, it seems that instead of trying to outsmart the bad guys, whoever they are, we try to outmuscle them with limited success. Then we get outnumbered, go overbudget, skimp on training and supplies, then wonder how we fix the issue without any resources left to allocate.

I guess my question is that if the FAM program is really going to be effective at catching terrorists and reducing risk, is $7 billion really enough?