I was almost getting to the point where I thought that I wouldn’t need to bring this out, but given the events of the last few days, I just don’t think I have a choice:

 

 

Now don’t get me wrong, I support most of the efforts in place to keep us safe.  Notice I said most, sorry but warrantless wiretapping or warrantless seizure of phone records is another story…

I think the UK security folks and all of the other agencies involved with yesterday’s arrests did a fantastic bit of police work, and I applaud their efforts.

But what bothers me is the knee jerk reaction that was taken in response to the disrupted plot….

While I don’t have any demographic information about the small handfull of people who read my ramblings here, I’m pretty sure that I can make two assumptions about all of you:  1) You’re alive, and 2) you get your news from someplace other than my website.

So I’m going to assume that by now you’ve heard about the new restrictions regarding carry on baggage on airliners, but just in case you’re unsure, you can head over here to refresh your memory.  Now if that information is news to you, then you really need to pick up a newspaper once in a while or something, at the very least you need to get out of that cave you live in and take a look at the outside world!

Let’s stop for a second an think about these new rules, which many in the mainstream media are already calling “the new norm.”  

Now it looks like some common sense is finally starting to make it into the mix here…  Early reports from NBC yesterday were that even flight crews were being forced to discard beverages that were part of their crew meals, however it looks like either that was untrue or somebody woke up and realized that such policies were pretty stupid.  But still, one of the reasons why people purchase food and beverages before their flight is because the airlines have cut back their in-flight services so much.  On many flights beverage service is the most you can hope for, and if you’re in the back of the plane, you could be waiting as much as 90 minutes to an hour after take off just to get something to drink!  If this policy is truely the new norm, then airlines will need to either step up their in-flight services or TSA is going to need to figure out a way to secure the supply chain to vendors inside the secure area of terminals so that once again passengers can purchase beverages to bring on the plane AFTER clearing security.

Then there’s the carry on baggage situation….  Most if not all airlines have definately stepped up to the plate here and are waiving their overweight fees on checked baggage for the time being.  Two thumbs up to every airline that made that move! :D

The trouble is many passengers (of which I’m not one) prefer not to check their bags and instead prefer to carry them aboard.  If your only bag is the one that you keep your toiletries in, you now have no choice but to check your baggage which further slows your airport experience.  Plus, hopefully you have a bag that is sturdy enough to withstand the stresses that airline baggage handlers and equipment will put on it…

Even worse though is the draconian measures but in place on ALL flights into or out of England.  ALL carry on luggage is prohibited with few exceptions, which must be brought onboard in clear bags.  Your iPod, laptop, cell phone, and even BOOKS are prohibited onboard.  That’s right, British authorities were confiscating BOOKs that passengers were trying to bring onboard.  It seems however that magazines were typically permitted…  Flying with a child?  Brace yourself for a LONG flight because you can’t bring toys to occupy your child onboard!

Then there’s the business affects of this ban…  Expect airport beverage sales to plummet as people are less likely to buy beverages in the terminal, and when they do purchase them they’re going to buy smaller sizes so that they can finish them before boarding.  Duty free shops are going to be in big trouble- Two of the top sellers at duty free shops are alcohol and perfume which passengers purchase and carry onboard… not anymore.

Heck in England they can now shutter huge portions of the terminals at Heathrow Airport.  If you’ve never been to Heathrow, once you get past security there is a wide variety of shopping options available to you, heck Heathrow even has personal shoppers to help travelers find just what their looking for in the stores at the airport…  But since you can’t carry your purchases on the aircraft now what?

I have absolutely no problem with increased security procedures.  What I dislike though are security procedures that are put into place as part of a knee jerk reaction with little thought to the real efficacy of the procedure.  I dislike secrurity procedures that are put into place more for show than because they actually increase security.  Yes, SFPD doing random searches and ID checks on drivers entering SFO I’m talking about YOU!  Unless your officer has an inplant in his brain connecting him to the FBI’s watchlist, all that checking my drivers license when I enter the airport will tell him is that I do in fact have a license to operate a motor vehicle…

And of course there’s Tom Ridge’s number 1 legacy when it comes to our country’s Homeland Security system…  You know it you love it…  It’s the color coded Homeland Security Alert System!  Can somebody tell me why there’s anything below Yellow on that system?  Does anybody actually think that the Terrorism Alert will ever be downgraded to Green or Blue?  Although I think the reality is that for the two years leading up to yesterday’s arrests there probably was a “General Risk of Terrorist Attacks” which would have put us at Blue.  I think up until yesterday keeping us at Yellow or “Significant Risk of Terrorist Attacks” may have been a little overkill. 

But heck, I’m also somebody who thinks that posting a police officer at the entrance of an airport to see if I’m carrying suitcases in my trunk is a waste of time, money, and resources.