near-total absence of terrorism on board, I have to wonder if the extreme measures separating the flight deck from the rest of the aircraft are really a good idea.
Respectfully I have to disagree. Perhaps in-flight terrorism is as low as it is because of such strong measures. If you weaken the cockpits security, this might be taken as an open invitation to terrorists and more plots might be thought up. Especially since the solution is so simple. As the Europeans have mentioned, cabin crew SOP's should be in place to call the flight deck at 15-20min intervals. Also there should be more systems to warn the crew if no interaction has taken place in a certain period of time.