As Airport Check-In Gets Worse Than Ever… We Have A Solution

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As Airport Check-In Gets Worse Than Ever… We Have A Solution

Posted on 28 December 2009 by Dan Cohen

The other day I jokingly wrote in a post that at some point we’re going to be required to fly naked to help ensure that were not carrying anything with us. Even then, however, regarding to need to undergo a cavity search before we can board the plane.

Well, I’m not sure where all that far from that based upon the initial responses that were seen from the TSA to this weekend’s failed attempt to down a passenger plane.

Larry just called me that he got word from someone trying to board a plane in Philadelphia that they’re not allowed to carry an iPod on board with them.

Better still, a leaked memo from the US Department of Homeland Security (on Gizmodo) indicates new security measures that are being put in place. If you aren’t “a head of state watch out! Screeners are now being told to do a “thorough pat-down of all passengers and concentrate on the upper legs and torso”. They are being told to ensure that all liquids, aerosols and jells strictly adhere to policies that have been in place for a number of years. But, “the air carrier may exempt passengers who are heads of state or heads of government from these measures”. During the flight, “passengers must remain in seats beginning one hour prior to arrival at destination, passenger access to carry-on baggage is prohibited one hour prior to arrival at destination and passengers may not have blankets closer personal belongings on their lap one hour prior to arrival at their destination.”

It doesn’t mention iPods, however, which suggests that extra stringent, even random, practices are being tried right now.

Translation – the requirements are going to be all over the place for the next few weeks, air travel is going to be even more challenging than ever before and, unfortunately, the bad guys will quickly find new ways around any measures that are put in place regardless of what measures are put in place. Yes, evil tends to be rather creative and flexible; that’s the sad truth.

When Larry and I were talking we agreed that there is one measure that would be put in place right now with no exceptions. It will make air travel far less enjoyable (as if it’s enjoyable now?) But it will reduce the risk, speed up the screening process, and remove any vagueness with regard to what is and isn’t allowed.

This is the proposal –

No carry-on luggage whatsoever. No jackets, no bags, no nothing. You get to board the plane with you, your clothing, your keys, and if you need medication during the flight medication so long as you get prior authorization from the airline.

No ifs, ands or buts about it — no carry-on luggage whatsoever. You get to fly and spend the time reading the crummy magazines that have already been touched by dozens of strangers.

Yes, I hate the idea. Larry isn’t particularly thrilled with either. But we both agree that it’s the best option available right now. At least it beats having to fly naked.

This post was written by:

Dan Cohen - who has written 2793 posts on Gear Diary.

Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. +Dan Cohen

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Christopher Gavula
The problem with that proposal is that many of us fly with laptops and have signed agreements that those devices must be in our posession at all times. Especially those of us working for government or government contractors. I CAN’T check my laptop – no way – no how. Not even mentioning the risk of that device being stolen – especially since we can’t lock the checked luggage either (also note – theft rates from checked luggage are WAY up). That means under your proposal I (and MANY other people who fly for business) simply won’t be able to do it. So it will not only be unpleasant, but simply impossible for many of us.
That will be a WONDERFUL boost to an already faltering industry.
bmack037
Another reason it may not work is that some medication needs to be transported on a person WITH prescription proof in hand. Some of these meds might also throw off drug dogs to go through more baggage than necessary to hold up flights… It would also suck a lot to have them loose some luggage and you don’t have anything but what’s on you, no extra clothes, toiletries, basic medication, computer, etc…
Dan Cohen
Of COURSE this isn’t going to work. THAT’S the point. this is a huge issues with no easy solution and the people who are hell-bent on doing horrible things will keep finding new was around any and all measures that get put in place. THAT’S the problem.
Lex
I have a better idea. No more air transportation. Shut down the industry. I’ll carry-on my laptop on the Greyhound Bus.
uzziah0
If they created a high speed rail network, then air travel could be greatly reduced. Then you wouldn’t have to fly from Chicago to St. Louis or any of the short trips. It would cost less, and could be built with the necessary security in place.
That would reduce the number of passengers at the airports, and allow security to be tightened.
There is a lot to iron out for a change to ground based travel, but it has promise.
http://www.geardiary.com Allen Hong
if they x-ray you, they should give you a printed copy as a memento
JDTagish
LOL @ Allen!
Joel McLaughlin
Just you wait. You think Greyhound is the answer now, but if that’s the way travel goes, the TSA will get it’s hooks in there to prevent a cross country bus from being blown up.
Christopher Gavula
And let’s not forget that trains and busses are dependent on rails and roads. RUssia just had a terrorist attack on a high speed rail. How would passenger screening have prevented that?
melvynadam
Only an American could write, “If they created a high speed rail network, then air travel could be greatly reduced”.
I know it’s hard for you to comprehend but there are other countries in the world and, believe it or not, they also contain people who fly in airplanes. Imagine!
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Christopher Gavula
melvynadam – you make a comment that really isn’t terribly helpful and seems to assume that uzziah0 is an American who is ignorant of the world. That is unnecessarily condescending.
Do you know that the U.S. has virtually no high speed rail so it’s difficult to know what possible impact it will or won’t have one other forms of travel? The original remarks likely have little or nothing to do with a lack of understanding of people outside of America as you imply.
For that matter, because the distances here are often greater between destinations – especially once you leave the coasts – no one can predict the impact that high speed rail may or may not have on how Americans travel.
I, for one, don’t believe that plans here for high-speed rail will connect enough points to have a significant impact on domestic air travel, but that is a far cry from presuming anything about how people from another country travel or what they know about others travel habits.
Please try to be more considerate of the things you say. There’s no need to be insulting to get your point across, especially when you yourself may not have considered all the facts.
Haesslich
Oh, there’s an easy fix to security issues: just completely restrict all civilian travel, issue location passes to people so they can leave the house to go to work, and punish those who break the laws with free trips to Guantanimo Bay and the seizure of all assets along with the exiling of their families from the United States. EASY fix. .
Haesslich
And of course my /SARCASM tag goes away.
http://www.graphical-illusion.com Elodie
I’m sorry, Christopher, but as soon as I saw the comment on a better railway system limiting air travel, melvynadam’s comment is what sprung to mind. I live in france and our high speed trains certainly help us travel. However, they require a ton of upkeep–would that even be POSSIBLE for cross-country trips in a country as large as the US? They are fast, but far from as fast as a plane. Now I’m sure people would still use them if they existed, if only because trains are so much comfier than planes, but would anywhere near enough people take the slower, potentially more expensive (I haven’t checked, but I don’t think our trains are cheaper than the discount airlines like easyjet…), not all that much safer if at all, form of travel, to make it worth it to build it?
But more importantly, the idea of “replace planes with trains” could only work in a place like america. Unless I wanted to do some crazy detours, the majority of places in the world would require me to take a plane, because a train or bus couldn’t GO there! America is large and has a lot of “flat” space where a train would have no issue. Not so for many other places, though.
Anyways, grr to air travel issues. The thing that’s annoying is, look at how strict the restrictions are. If I wanted to sneak something on, I don’t doubt for a second I’d be caught. If a person who knows his way about these things want to sneak something on, I’m pretty sure he’ll manage it, regardless of the restrictions. Stricter rules means less attempts and only from people who really know their way around these things, but I can’t see it successfully eliminating anything.
http://www.geardiary.com Michael Anderson
Elodie – Chris was responding to the tone in the post more than the content. One user posted a thought, and another launched a personal attract that was condescending and offered a generalization that took the original post out of context and said more about the insulter than anything.
Because serious and intelligent people *know* that saying ‘only someone from country X’ or ‘only someone of religion Y’ or ‘only someone with skin color Z’ demonstrates both small mindedness and a parochial world view – which is ironic since that is what he was accusing the other of having! Anyway, I think it is safe to dismiss that comment and get back to the meat of the discussion.
The original statement spoke of a high speed rail alleviating considerable traffic, and specifically cited short haul trips which have heavy air travel that would be well suited for high speed rail.
Look at the Boston to Washington rail system – it stops in NYC, and is a very fast and efficient system that is quicker than air traffic when you factor in all of the airport time and hassle. The Chicago to St Louis line could offer similar benefits.
That was the intent – not change everything to ground transport, but rather leverage existing routes by adding newer rail service and make rail travel as efficient as the always-packed east coast ‘Accela’ trains.
melvynadam
I’ll put my “condescending” hat back on and assume you meant that I launched a personal “attack”.
What I wrote was not intended as an “attack”. There’s a stereotype of Americans being largely ignorant about the world outside America. This isn’t an arbitrary invention of Anti-American freedom haters. It comes from the repeatedly publicized findings that American school children are thoroughly ignorant when it comes to geography.
Consider the facts:
In 2006, nearly two-thirds of Americans aged 18 to 24 could not “find Iraq on a map”
Shortly after the enormous coverage of Hurricane Katrina, a poll found that nearly one-third of young Americans “couldn’t locate Louisiana on a map”. Nearly half were unable to identify Mississippi.
75 percent of young Americans were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.
While the outsourcing of jobs to India has been a major U.S. business story, 47 percent could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia.
Sources: [CNN] http://tinyurl.com/y8qycga and
Source: [MSNBC] http://tinyurl.com/rgsbo
“Geographic illiteracy” is a National Problem in the US and it’s reflected in the attitude of many (though obviously not *all*) of her citizens.
Joel McLaughlin
@melvynadam: I understand you are concerned about this lack of knowledge. How about helping with teaching those who don’t know about it rather than pointing it out to us on a blog? I for one know where every one of those places are and I am sure that Chris and Michael do too. I do not know what that has to do with the subject of the post or the commentary following the post.
There is no possible way any of us could know what all of Europe is like and I don’t think any of the comments have shown a complete lack of ignorance that you say they show. Leaving something off of your comment doesn’t mean you don’t know about it!
Also, be aware that some of the writers of Gear Diary DO travel. A lot. Some of it international. So we do indeed know what is happening in the world. We may not have it show in every post, but we do know what is happening.
As for the subject of the comments…I think the US is TOO large for high speed rail to be successful on a nationwide basis. Regional should be doable though. What surprises me a lot is how often Columbus gets left out in the cold with rail projects. Ohio is RIPE for regional rail. Put a line from Cincy to Columbus to Cleveland and you connect all three metros and open up the job markets. Need a job but live in Columbus? With high speed rail, you can now look in Cincy and Cleveland as well.
http://www.geardiary.com Michael Anderson
melvynadam – you DO realize that you are just spouting anti-American diatribe? I mean, there are plenty of statistic showing that as your figures were being collected, well under half of Europeans could even manage to figure out how many countries are in the EU, let alone name or identify them! Seriously – get off your high horse …
… particularly since you failed basic reading by ignoring what the original post said and launching into your ignorant rant. He cited short haul traffic that would actually benefit from high speed rail.
Oh – but that wasn’t your concern – you were looking to call Americans idiots. Which, as I said, only shows that you are myopic and ignorant. You might be well educated, but your demonstrated behavior of spouting generalities as hate and quoting stats that support your limited viewpoint only indicates that you fully espouse the narrow-minded way of thinking that so many criticized the neo-cons under Bush for using.
melvynadam
I didn’t call all Americans idiots and I certainly didn’t express hate. I have no hate for Americans. None. This has gone way off-topic.
I made a very short comment about a previous comment. Others thought it and I wrote it. Nothing I said related to the travel habits of the Gear Diary team. I’m sure not one of the writers of this excellent site would have any problem finding Iraq or indeed New Zealand on a map.
However, it’s a demonstrable fact that, in the whole of the developed world, America values geography less and consequently teaches it less. To argue otherwise is to ignore reality.
http://www.geardiary.com Michael Anderson
True – you didn’t directly state those things in either of your posts. However, just as you say that ‘others thought what you said’, so too did others read your comment and see ‘typical anti-American vitriol’.
I am not debating the lack of emphasis in many of our schools in the US (again, not all – generalities and stereotypes are never a solid representation of reality), it is a shame, and I have seen a huge difference as we moved into a new state last year in terms of coverage of this stuff … though as you might expect, I make sure my kids know this stuff.
But the reason I put the EU comment into my last one is to point out that lacking geographical knowledge is not just a US problem. It is a global issue we face as we become less nationalistically focused.
To return to where this started – the person you replied to was suggesting supplementing air with rail to help short haul stuff like Chicago to St Louis … and I also cited the Boston to Washington corridor. I think there is a reasonable discussion to be had that is worthy of the site and the folks here. Or we could discuss why <10% of UK students could name and identify more than half of the EU members