An English friend of mine got incredibly upset when I told him that these "security improvements" were a huge hassle and added little to security. He felt that I was being incredibly foolish and short-sighted in talking about how much it would cost both flyers and airlines to have huge delays at checkpoints.

But that's the truth. If people are too inconvenienced, they won't fly. If it costs $100M to put an armed air marshal on every flight using a jet, and the increased security delays cost airlines over $200M, which solution is the right one?

The "whining" is the voice of flyers who make the economy work. We do worse damage to ourselves by wasting everyone's time doing these useless security checks.

The "whining" that I alluded to is the collective voice of a lot of FTer comments and not something that any single individual said.

I hate the idea of anything that causes the loss of economic activity/productivity. And long lines at security certainly contribute to that. Then again, the attacks on the WTC will cost about $100 billion dollars, so I am all for anything that is prevention oriented. The CIA and FBI are convinced that there will be another terrorist attack on American soil. If attacking an airplane is an option, the terrorists will attack an airplane. However, with the new mindset of pilots and pax and the increased security measures in place, I agree that the next attack is unlikely to be directed at an airplane or airport. But that's only because security has been increased. Taking away nail clippers and corkscrews may seem pointless, but at least it forces the security screeners to be extra diligent in reviewing the xrays and metal detectors for other concealed weapons.

There is no doubt that having armed air marshals on board every flight would be one of the better remedies, but security is a process and a series of steps, not any single restriction. What's the point of having an armed air marshal on board if the security checks are so lax that I can bring a gun or a knife on the plane? Before the incidents, I could usually carry my Gerber multi-tool/knife onboard in the USA. The knife was always discovered when I traveled overseas. Now, I make sure that I don't have it on my carryon because I know that they are not permitting a whole slew of items. As much as folks don't like the longer lines at security and the focus on mundane, everyday items, the measures still act as a deterrent imho.

Still, I am hopeful that once the airports get more people trained and hired and travelers get used to the routine, the security process will be more streamlined and there will be less people inconvenienced. But we are only one month into these measures. If our tolerance for inconvenience is zippo after one month, what will it be like in two years? For all we know, the next attack may not be for a while.

fallinasleep;
My apologies, I didn't mean to imply the source was inaccurate-- I just hadn't been watching ABC so I hadn't heard they had implemented enhanced Omega.

John Miller was D.C.P.I. (civilian position, Dep. Commish of Public Information-- PD's Press Secretary) of NYPD during Rudy's first year as Mayor and certainly has extensive connections still-- even though he was forced out of his position.

About the same time as I read your answer, several NYPD friend of mine called me to cancel our plans for this evening. Even guys that had today off-- obviously they no longer do and they confirmed your report of same.

C'mon Goldlust--Wake up to reality. Here's the difference: The terrorist b*stards targeted innocent people doing nothing more serious than going about their daily lives.
The war that is now starting is going after those terrorists and their armies and groups that kill and enslave innocent people, not targeting civilians as the terrorists did. Sure, some innocent people may die there too, they should have thought of that before they killed 6,000 innocent people in the U.S.
I would have thought it wouldn't be necessary to explain it to you--guess I was wrong!!

bj-21.

There is another thread going in Omni on the allied response. Let's try to keep Miles Buzz on focus with flying and general travel issues.

Thanks in advance for everyone's assistance.

------------------
Craig6z
Buzz & United Moderator
[email protected]

I'd be more excited if ignorant comments like this would be left unposted.

Goldlust, I may be wrong, but I haven't heard you feel sentiment like this for the 6000 plus people killed in New York last month. How do you feel abou the 6000 civilians who were killed on September 11?

The war started on September 11 with the murder of 6000 civilians. I hope today is the beginning of the end of terrorist acts. This will be a long war and it saddens me to think about the death and destruction which will be forthcoming. Heaven knows about what will happen on US soil in the coming days, weeks, and months. But we need to fight with everything we've got to make sure that civilization topples terrorism. We have no other choice. We gave peace a chance and they killed 6000 of us. Enough is enough.

---

Sounds reasonable!

For the "OMNI" thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/002825.html

Also for the "IN THE NEWS" thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/003039.html

Yes, you may be wrong. In fact, you are wrong (in this instance anyway). Do a search on my posts on MilesBuzz or elsewhere if you doubt my feelings of sadness for ANY human loss of life.

A new round of bombing has just commenced in Afghanistan! Let's hope those smart bombs will hit uncle "trash" Bin soon enough.

Please also see more info and links at:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/003039.html

OMNI!!!

Reaction from the White House (humorous): http://www.miniclip.com/dancingbush.htm

ok that made me laugh!