Turning American airports and airplanes into an extended police state which maximally distrusts their own customers is the single stupidest thing the industry can do. For one thing, people just won't fly the planes as often. People will drive, instead. Or they won't travel at all. They will vote with their feet. There are a great number of us in the country already who refuse to fly, or fly very rarely, for two reasons: one, we don't like being treated like Soviet citizens instead of American citizens, and two, we know the security measures are a joke.I've already cancelled a trip I was planning next month. I will not show up 2 hours early for the flight. And I won't fly without my trusty knife. And if the airline tries to refuse to refund my fare, they can expect a big fight. The only way I'll fly is if they honor the conditions in place when I bought the ticket. I will fight for a refund.
It's a shame that these regulations are being put into place. There's a lot of places I flew to on business that I can drive to in 4-6 hours. If the flight is an hour, and I have to allow 2 hours or more for the anal probes and complete search of my underwear and toothbrushes, I'll just drive. It's more convenient to leave when I want instead of when the airline flight is scheduled. That's worth another hour or two.
This is going to kill the short hop commuter airlines. Any flights on routes less than 400 miles will probably shut down within a few months. These aren't worth the trouble, even to business travelers.
Now others who were going to fly have called and wanted to ride with me.
There goes the airline industry customer base! Soon, we won't need the FAA bureaucrats who came up with these stupid policies as there won't be an airline industry to regulate.
I guess there might be some good to come out of this afterall.