Once again, this past Sunday morning, I was asked to take off my shoes before boarding an Airtran flight to Fort Lauderdale. First, at the main security checkpoint, and once again before boarding. The personell remembered me from the last time I made such a flight. They actually put my shoes through the x-ray machine.
Last night, comedian David Brenner related some similar experiences with security. He flies a lot, and the security people definately recognized him, and he received a full search just as I did. He expressed concern in the interview about a pilot being searched who had a nail cliper being broken to remove its pointed file. When the pilot asked why, he was told that he might have been able to use it to take over the airplane. He responded "I'm the pilot, it's my JOB to take over the airplane!!!"
Brenner expressed his concern that during these charades, real terrorists may be allowed to board. He also mentioned the "S" marking on the borading pass you receive before you go to the security checkpoint. If a terrorist sees the "S", he will know that he will be searched, and will simply delay his flight until a day when he does not receive the "S" designation from the ticket agent.
Talk about chasing our tails...
