On the other hand, I’m glad my travel this week was on Monday, not today.
This particular plot, to my mind, shows the essential futility of the current airport security scheme. This plot was not thwarted because people weren’t allowed to bring possibly explosive liquids on board. Those were only banned (for the moment?) today. It was thwarted by investigative work, tracking down the bad guys, and arresting them before they could act.
So today — at least — you couldn’t get through with any sort of liquid or gel. No toothpaste. No Starbucks coffee. No cologne. No bottle of wine you bought on your vacation. No sun screen. No lotion. No water. No shampoo. No topical medication. No liquid make-up. Baby formula?
Weeeeellll .. maybe. And even if you could have bought them beyond security, no taking them on the plane.
(And let’s not even talk about banning all carry-on luggage.)
And how long will that last? I mean, sure, today, maybe tomorrow, it might make sense. Did all the bad guys get caught? If not, might they try a last ditch effort to do the deed?
But in the long run, can they really ban all liquids and gels going through airport security or going onto a plane? Is that realistic? And what next? Short of everyone going through security having to strip down and being handed paper robes before going off to the gate — and submitting to body cavity searches — there’s no way to keep people from bringing dangerous stuff onto planes. Some stuff, stuff that’s just dangerous, sure (yes, no containers of gasoline, no propane tanks,
no shuriken). But as the general public disdain and quite rational questioning of the current banned list shows, preventing people from bringing tiny Swiss Army Knives, or bottle openers, or tweezers doesn’t really make anyone feel safer, and doesn’t really make anyone safer, either.
What are the lessons that will be learned from this foiled plot? With any luck, it will be the right ones. More likely, if the urge to do flashy displays of security in the past are any indication, it will be the wrong ones.
I won’t be surprised when at least a portion of this is the rule of law. Banning all carryon is certainly next, but I don’t know how they’ll handle the security of it. Having had a jacket stolen from my checked luggage, I’d be hard pressed to EVER check my purse.
Feet on the ground does the work which means we need to put money into intellegence not unreasonable security.
Does this mean the airlines will have to rethink their food policies? They’ve been suggesting we bring our owns supplies for the last few years and now we can’t. Who’s to know what’s inside the food we brings on board? I’m not terrorist but I can think of a few possiblities.
On the other hand, the airlines would love to find a way to minimize carry-on, as it’s usually a major hold-up in boarding …
… until people simply stop flying because the hassle factor has become too great.
How the UK is handling (was handling?) the no-carry-on thing. I can see a lot of people saying, “Screw it.”
Two interesting considerations here:
1. Under UK no-carry-on rules, you can’t carry on things like laptops, cell phones, iPods, etc. They have to be checked …
… in luggage that, at least if it’s going through the US, needs to be unlocked.
Yeah, that sounds brilliant.
2. And … no books. No books. No books?!
I have several staff members in the UK. I have major clients in the UK. Right this moment, I would resist mightily any suggestion I go and visit them. Not because of fear of flying, but because I’ll be damned if I’m going to take an 11 hour flight without my laptop, MP3 player, and a book.
So if any of those liquids and gels being confiscated might be dangeorus explosions … why are they being treated so cavalierly by TSA?
Oh, joy. The restrictions on US air travelers are in place “indefinitely.”