Let’s Flick Those Who Got the Job Done

I would point out that some folks need additional restrictions, but it’s not the passengers. They bravely did the job of air safety personnel, even after this terrorist’s father warned the U.S. of his son’s hatred. Naturally, the father was blamed — for not being specific enough to trigger a warning. Frankly, if a parent warns the United States about his own child, I would consider the son a threat and would not allow him to freely fly American skies. (Looks like Amsterdam did the same. Thanks for that.)

It’s time to utilize the most powerful resource we have in the skies — the passengers. Yes, search people before they board. Yes, limit what can be brought on the plane. But when passengers foil a dangerous individual, don’t clamp down on them. Reward them.

No one is going to tackle an armed fanatic for the bonus air miles or a free flight to Florida, so the reward isn’t to motivate people. It’s to — gasp — reward them. For services performed for their fellow human beings. In this case, the reward seems out of whack with reality. Passengers heroically tackle this man, and as a reward, passengers everywhere are slapped with a new layer of restrictions.

Fortunately for the airlines, no one who is motivated to tackle a terrorist is going to pull up and say to himself, “Wait, now it’s going to take another hour to get through security. Forget it.” He doesn’t do it for the reward and he isn’t going to stop doing it for penalties like additional passenger restrictions.

Now flights shorter than 90 minutes on a certain airline will feature a new, free “service” — the inability to get up out of your seat, access your carry-on, or hold anything in your lap. Don’t plan to get a drink in the airport, go to the bathroom on the plane, or call your sister to find out how your mother is doing in the emergency room to which you’re flying. Just shut up and sit down. If there’s a terrorist on the plane, we don’t want those aisles blocked.