When You Do Not Know Where You Are, The Terrorists Win

We know, of course, that the damage caused on 9/11 spread immediately beyond Ground Zero. As an attack on capitalism, the destruction of the World Trade Centre was but a prelude to the real costs associated with our response, including the tremendous amount of money spent on new security measures. Cynical (neo-conservative) politicians, fearing that our habits would change, used the goodwill that arose after the attacks to reinforce a return to old patterns: if you do not shop, the terrorists win. But I am reminded that Al-Qaeda's lasting success, beyond hobbling entire systems by which we organize ourselves, is in changes that are made to the small, reassuring comforts that make life livable.

I am not a happy airline passenger. It is not that I grip the armrests with white knuckles, but I do not wake on the morning of a trip filled with the excitement of hurtling through the air at hundreds of miles an hour. I accept fully that if I want the convenience of flying, I will have to submit to a ritual undressing at security. The proliferation of hijackings through the twentieth century scribbled that writing on the wall. I accept fully that the financial pressures on the airlines, evident before September 11, 2001, will make it so that I cannot expect anything like creature comforts on the airplane, itself.

But for those of us who do not love to fly, the loss of control is much of the problem. I understand, and I really believe, that I am more likely to come a cropper on the highway between Calgary and Edmonton than I am to encounter real problems in the hands of Air Canada. But, psychologically, getting strapped to a small seat, facing forward, unable to see where I am going, as I shimmer and shake with turbulence, is difficult to endure. One of the small comforts I have had is the ability to track the progress of our trip. I used to be able to see on a map how close we were to our destination. After the failed exploits of the Christmas Underwear Bomber, this facility has been removed from entertainment screens on the seat-backs in front of passengers. Where, previously, I could watch an airplane roughly the size of the length of Saskatchewan move across the Great Lakes, I now get a "This Option Is Not Available," removing as well our height, our speed, and the "estimated time to destination" data. The idea, you see, is that a terrorist cannot use even this rough approximation to know when to time, for maximum effect, any act of mayhem.

On a recent journey from Calgary to Halifax, I knew only when we were planning to leave and when we should land at our final destination. Not reflected on my itinerary was the timing of a scheduled stop in Montreal. We left a little late, and I nodded off while my plane taxied. We were delayed on the tarmac, and we had a slight tailwind. About what seemed to me three hours into the journey, where were we? Were we almost to Montreal? Were we just half-way? Journey times include getting to and from the gate. How much of what happened on the ground in Calgary should be factored into my estimation?

Now, I recognize that, for many people, nothing I have written above compares to their discomfort at getting rubbed down at security, something I simply accept. But, for me, the response to the Christmas peril makes a real difference to my experience, without delivering anything tangible to safety, in my view. How long will it take before these new measures are quietly restored -- or before we acclimate once more to knee-jerk reactions? And the big question might be: are these changes simply designed to make us feel like someone is doing something, causing more harm than good in practical implementation?

Comments

[Craig]

Thanks for both of these! They take me back to the first time I flew: as a student on a school trip. There was no real "entertainment," just a documentary on weather balloons shown to all of economy class. Our family physician was on the flight: with enough scotch in him that he cared not what was happening to the plane.

Security should be our first priority, it goes without saying. But there seem to be a lot of people navigating their own little hells all around us on flights, and whatever little comforts allow them to get from A to B are at risk, whether or not they threaten security or not.

Air Canada now lets me keep my little (but not big) earphones on, as long as they are connected to the plane's entertainment system. The argument, I guess, is that an announcement through the intercom will come through the earphones, and one that is just yelled can still be heard. Music from gate to gate helps soothe me. WestJet, as of December, anyway, had a "no earphones of any kind" during takeoff and landing policy still in place.

[Rohan Maitzen]

I find that if you take enough ativan before and during your flight, it doesn't really matter where you are. (Also, I expect it will significantly reduce the stress of any scanning or patting down that might go on.) The only down side I've discovered is that you also won't remember anything you've read or viewed. Actually, given the usual selection of movies, that might not be a bad thing either.

[Mary]

I guess things have changed since my flying days...

Being a native of Washington state, and having spent most of my adult life in the Midwest (US), I flew many times during my young adult years. But with the proliferation of my family, I've flown only once in the past ten years. I don't think I've ever experienced the flight progress report thing about which you are talking. In "the old days" we went through a metal detector and then onto the plane.

I know all that's changed now. Even though I recently flew out of lowly Fargo, ND, I was subjected to all the extra security measures. But I don't remember anything on the seat back that would indicate our progress. And I know for certain there never used to be anything like that in my previous flying days.

When we had a "good" pilot, he would periodically report on our progress and the flight attendants (called stewardesses in those days) would also answer any questions we might have of how the flight was progressing.

Not that this will make you feel any safer or more in control, but, wow!, I never imagined there was any such gadget as that which you described!

Oh, and after I missed my return flight in Denver (due the lengthy wait in the security line, combined with the miles of walking I had to do to get to the gate, I was very surprised and impressed with the screens at each gate that gave periodic updates on when to expect the awaited flight, and who was on stand-by and what number I was in line, and when, suddenly, I was bumped from stand-by to approved.