I disagree that airport security is "security theater". To support this claim I present data on airline hijackings from 1990 to 2021: https://www.researchgate.

I disagree that airport security is "security theater". To support this claim I present data on airline hijackings from 1990 to 2021: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Graph-showing-the-Number-of-Hijacking-per-year-from-1990-till-2021-Figure-20_fig2_370896603 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Graph-showing-the-Number... Those numbers are even more striking when viewed against the tremendous increase in flights over that time period and there is a multitude of reasons why hijackings have decreased, but the ever-so-slightly increased chance of interception at a security checkpoint is assuredly one of them. And a list of airline bombing incidents 1933-2016: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_airliner_bombing_attacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_airliner_bombing_a... There have been no fatalities due to bombs on an American airline since Pan Am 103, and as someone who was flying prior to and immediately after Flight 103, I can assure you that TSA-era post-9/11 security measures are nothing (thanks to advances in screening technology) compared to post-103 security measures. Except for shoes and belts, most of the security pains people dislike are a result of the Lockerbie Bombing. And with PreCheck you can keep your shoes on ;-)