If the "System Worked", Why All the New Security Hassles?

Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary, assured the nation on the Sunday shows yesterday that "the system worked like clockwork", right after a Nigerian on the no-fly list boarded a U.S. bound flight with explosives taped to his leg. Some system.

Now, the system is working to ensure that flying becomes an even bigger hassle:

Beleaguered US air passengers faced a slew of new travel woes Sunday, as ramped up airport security following a thwarted Christmas Day terror attack compounded delays from back-to-back record-setting snowstorms.

Air travelers were told Sunday to check in four hours ahead of their scheduled departure times, while bomb-sniffing dogs were visible at airports across the country, US media reported, after a Nigerian man with possible ties to radical Islam was charged with attempting to blow up an airliner on final approach to Detroit Friday.

Once on board their flights, many passengers were told they would be unable to hold coats or blankets in their laps and would not be allowed to enter aircraft restrooms for the last hour of their flights, reports said.

Passengers also reportedly are being told to expect additional airport pat-downs and gate security checks.

The new measures follow the botched Christmas Day attack by terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, accused of trying to bring down a Northwest Airlines flight with 290 people on board by detonating explosive material sewn into his underwear.

The upgraded airport security measures coincides with the annual year-end holiday travel season that got underway the weekend before Christmas and lasts about two weeks, through the New Year holiday.

US Department of Homeland Security director Janet Napolitano said the additional screening measures covered all US airports and all domestic and international flights "to ensure the continued safety of the traveling public."

It won't be the threat of terror attacks that will kill the airline industry, it will be the federal government treating every passenger like a terrorist.