Don't know when I'll be back again

[cyrano]

Just a quick note, here, as I'm seeing a lot of discussion on my flist about the new security measures at airports.
Airlines !== TSA
In fact, I would say that at base there is an antagonistic relationship between the two, because every new layer of security that the TSA establishes means fewer passengers, crankier passengers, and more difficulty getting to passengers, who then demand lower ticket prices in exchange for their inconvenience.
Yes, the airlines certainly can take steps (ones which cut into their already pretty thin baseline) to accomodate people who have been inconvenienced by the new security measures. But they're not the ones telling you to throw out your water bottle so that a third party can then charge you $5 for a replacement inside security.
(When Andale's or Boudin's sells you an overpriced meal, I as an airline employee do not in fact see any of that profit in my paycheck.)
Airlines already do enough stupid things and make enough arbitrary decisions that we don't need to add this in order to prove that they do stupid or arbitrary things. This has been your pedantic moment for the day.

Comments

[phillipalden.livejournal.com]

I think it’s a combination of airline greed and mismanagement, TSA idiocy, and passengers who are tired of being treated like crap by both.

Erik relates superior passenger experiences in foreign airlines, and often frustrations with domestic airlines.

I don’t blame the hard-working airline employees. I place the blame squarely with the airline executives making decisions that make things needlessly hard on both their employees and their customers.

And I find fault with the TSA and our inept government.

All of this, including terrorism, have made things much worse for everyone. 9-11 was just another nail in the coffin of the airline industry, and I believe the latest round of problems began with deregulation under the Reagan Administration.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I don't deny that airline management are generally speaking not doing the job they should. My single point here is that the airlines are not involved in the new 'no liquids' rule, and it's not part of their plan to make passengers spend more money.
And although I've been told that deregulation is the Yellow Brick Road which leads us to the Emerald City of Laissez Faire and the true freedom of the Free Market, I've pretty much seen it use its Midas Touch to turn everything it touches to shit because greedy rapacious bastards use it as a blank check to abuse the system and clamp down the profit vise as hard as they can.

[phillipalden.livejournal.com]

The liquids thing is one of the few things I'm not blaming on the industry.

I agree with you about deregulation, and I agree with Erik about the Israeli practice of focusing on the passenger. Do an interview and decide on a case-by-case basis.

[miss-friday.livejournal.com]

While I do not know the figures, and don't have the time to look them up currently, I doubt the El Al security scheme would not work with U.S. I suspect that U.S. carriers simply have too many passengers to make interviews and background checks feasible. It would likely take too many employees to make such a system run smoothly and quickly, even with technological shortcuts. Plus said employees (either government or privately hired) would have to undergo rigorous background checks, and there simply may not be enough people that would be eligible to do the work.

This is a case where ramping up a small model would produce more problems than solution.

[phillipalden.livejournal.com]

I hate to say it, but maybe we should start profiling a little. Differentiate between a lawyer from Northern California and a person with no clear purpose from countries that birth these types of acts.

How hard is it to look at background before we issue a visa and/or passport? There's no reason we cannot do simple background checks before the person shows up at the airport.

No tickets sold on demand, (but with an emergency provision.)

Flying is not a right guaranteed by the Constitution.