Can I ask Rongotai, Boofhead and AASLF to please take their discussion about the merits or otherwise of doing business or visiting the USA to a different forum, please. This thread is about the current and other recent cancellations of specific flights to the USA due to 'credible intelligence'.
Whilst the consequences of such decisions may have a bearing on some peoples travel decisions the debate here is about the validity of the announcements and the apparent methods being used to implement them. Personally, I am highly sceptical about the decisions to make such public announcements that particular flights have been targeted. If they do indeed have such 'credible intelligence' then by announcing that fact without having in place an operation to trap the potential terrorists, all they appear to be doing is letting them know that they are 'listening out' for tid-bits of information. All the terrorists have to do now is keep on spreading disinformation and they can bring the airline industry to its knees. If it wasn't so serious it'd be comical.
No one is denying that there is enhanced security but what appears to be happening is a beefing up of areas that are easily and most likely to be bypassed. As I pointed out in my earlier post, there is a huge system in place to prevent pointy metal things being carried through from landside to airside at airports. There is very little in place apart from the off-chance that there MAY be an armed PSM or two on board SOME flights. We have nothing in place to question anyone trying to board a flight as to their intentions, obvious or otherwise. That, together with the fact that there are any number of items that can be purchased once past 'security' that could be used as weapons is the real weakness in the system and have no doubt that the terrorists will be looking for any flaws in the system.
The fact that there are new measures in place in the USA for arriving travellers is irrelevant to this discussion and, has been pointed out above by Macfloppy, it is not such a real problem. But... that is AFTER a flight has arrived in the USA. What we are talking about here is the very public announcements by the airlines that their flights have or will be cancelled based on intelligence received from the various governments and those governments announcements that they have 'credible intelligence' when in fact all we appear to have is backside padding for political masters.
