The last airline safety conference I had to attend, I went to via Amtrack, though I could have ridden free on my own airline employer's planes or jumpseated with another carrier.
They were real happy about reimbursing me for the ticket, lemme tellya. But like I told my station manager, hey, if neither the government nor the airline trusts the pilots, why should I?
-archy-/-
I'd sooner hitchike across the country than submit to the Nazi tactics at the airports. Getting arrested for questioning "authority" or accidentaly having the wrong thing in my luggage outweighs any benefits to flying.
If I'm going to pay $300 to get treated like dirt, there are attractive women who do that sort of thing for a living. Or so I've heard.
They were real happy about reimbursing me for the ticket, lemme tellya.
I haven't had to go through this yet at my job, but expect to have to deal with it later this year. I figure I'll simply drive, and ask them to reimburse me for it. If they raise hell about "not flying", I'll explain that they can save money by simply having the meeting over the phone.