So I just read this article on CNN titled "Air marshals say service roiled with cronyism, chaos." When it occurred to me that for the most
part Tax payers are expected to pony up the millions for this essentially ineffective Government service. In some ways I can understand the challenges before the Air Marshal service with the thousands of flights occurring every day in the United States. Is it logical to expect every flight to have at least one Air Marshal on board? If you think the cost of what limited abilities they have today is large, imagine what it would be to cover every flight.

That moved me to think about whether or not these various Government agencies are sharing intelligence allowing the Air Marshals to be more
targeted in what flights they cover. If the past is any indication on large scaled terror activities, my guess would be no. So where does that leave the illusion of air flight security for those millions who travel each year via aircraft.

Here is a silly question, why are we depending on the U.S. Government to control the security of commercial air travel in the first place? That
would be like having any police department be responsible for providing security to every business and home in the U.S.. Why would we not put
the responsibility in the hands of the Airlines themselves? From a business perspective isn't it in their best interest to ensure their flights are secure? Their employees & staff? We expect no less from the rest of corporate America.

In some ways the benefits outweigh the risks on the part of the American citizen. If we began to view the Airline industry as the service it truly is, maybe they would be more responsible in providing a true end-to-end service including passenger safety. That is not to say that each Airline doesn't have a department focused on security but when it comes to covering flights, they defer to the U.S. Government to pick up the slack? That doesn't make too much sense to me. Tax Payers are expected to pick up the tab for hundreds of millions of dollars to essentially fund an ineffective Government program.

Why not explore how to have the Airlines police their own flights by training and staffing their own, let's call them "Air Deputies" who follow guidelines set forth by a consortium of commercial and Governmental security experts. I know I personally would like the option to choose my airline based on the addition of a security rating instead of whether or not they serve a full meal or peanuts. Maybe, just maybe a more focused approach could be served at the Airline level than by the U.S. Government trying to manage out security via a shotgun approach.

I'm just sayin'

*CNN Article