Security Theater?

Some might say it’s because of the security imposed on airline travel. Perhaps, but where’s the evidence that GA poses a threat?

Frank Bowlin

Friday, December 15, 2023 at 02:53 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The author, a retired airline pilot, prefers General Aviation (GA) for convenience and to avoid commercial airline security, despite free travel options.
While commercial airline security can be frustrating and its rules sometimes seem arbitrary, it is generally effective in preventing hijackings, a success evidenced by the lack of incidents since 9/11.
Conversely, the article heavily criticizes GA security measures, such as VIP Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs), arguing they are disproportionate and misdirected as 9/11 attacks involved airliners, not GA aircraft.
Many GA restrictions are perceived as being driven by political and public reassurance rather than proven threats, which the author suggests is the biggest real threat to GA.

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Flying GA allows travel at convenient times to airports we choose. Plus, of course, we avoid the at-best unpleasant security procedures of airline travel. But, my recent planned trip couldn’t be undertaken in our plane due to maintenance issues and we resorted to airline travel.

Since I’m a retired airline pilot, we travel free on a space-available basis, adding more stress to make sure we find flights with available seats. To be fair, though, this recent trip was as painless as possible. There were plenty of available seats and navigating the terminals and security at both ends was about as smooth as it gets. Nonetheless, it was less pleasant than driving to our hangar and just launching.