Delta NWA Flight
The attempted Christmas Day bombing on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit was thwarted, but air travelers will continue to be inconvenienced by new rules imposed by the Transportation Security Administration. There does not appear to be a cost-benefit to such measures. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, there have been six attempted terrorist attacks on flights into or within the U.S.: four planes that were hijacked on 9/11, the shoe bomber’s attempt to blow up a plane in December 2001 and now this incident. This works out to one terrorist attack for more than 16.5 million airline departures within or to the U.S. TSA’s response was to further inconvenience airline passengers by various means including requiring passengers to remain seated during the final hour of flight and to forfeit access to their carry-on luggage at that time. I limit my air travel, not because of safety concerns, but because travel has become such an ordeal. If you have not already done so, now is the time to invest in a $99 camera for cheap Internet videoconferencing. Even if your recession budget allows for air travel, the inconvenience endured by Air Canada passengers into the U.S. today suggests that all but the most critical business travel should be re-evaluated.