Good morning,
if I may add some points to the discussion:
First of all, it is uther nonsense to believe that you can secure a large object like an international airport. Itīs just impossible, there will be inevitably trucks going through unchecked, police officers passing with guns, holes in the fence if you want to keep it more simple, etc. etc. Since I am working in the GA sector, I find it surprising how different the various security checks are. It can go as far as a half naked walk through the x-ray followed by a frisking which gets dangerously close to sexual harrasment (with the family jewels being moved from left to right to check inbetween, I kid you not). However at other airports there is no security at all, basically you walk straight to the plane, full stop. Both these airports would allow me to fly to say LHR and there I am still on airside. I do not mind the security checks itself if they would suit a purpous, however find it difficult to accept that at airport A, I have to take of my shoes and at B I can walk through with an uzi if I felt like.
Offcourse looking at the big picture it makes more sense. I am not a suspect for terrorism, neither are my passengers. Real safety agents and police officers know this, so they leave me alone. However there is a 50% chance I will pass through an airport which is either window dressing for good looks, or they have those 20 year old boys who love to see a skipper take his shoes of....
All of this is avoiding the real problem which is the question of WHY? Why does somebody feel the urge to kill himself along with a hundred other people. Why do people fly into buildings, or drive through the front side of the terminal. And what are we doing to make them go mad like that. If you look at the background of suicide bombers in the middle east, it is clear that they would rather sit in there back garden living a long and happy live, but because of religion, politics or social pressure they feel obligated to take the road of martyrship. This is fuelled by our actions in the west and even more today with the cowboys from the new world driving like madman through a land that they do not understand and that they do not want to understand. Just to make something very clear: I am not defending terrorism, I am just saying that I do not believe we can win the war on terrorism with guns. And we will surely not win it by taking away a babies bottle of water...... A bit of understanding and respect will go a lot further then to start shooting or making everybody nervous with this whole code yellow, code red nonsense (any psychologist will tell you that this will drive people mad in the end).
Ohh, and on the point of skipping the cue at the airport, well I do it all the time and do not feel bad about it, because I simple cannot affort to wait half an hour for 8 times a day. I must be passing the security about 1000 times per year. The avarage pax about 2 times a year. There is a big difference there. Never has anybody bothered me for jumping the cue, they do understand.