In 2012, trying to make fun of ridiculous airport security and TSA ineptitude makes for worse stand up comedy than Kenny Bania, but at least we’re safer, right? I mean, with all of the idiotic shoe-removing, body scanning, and luggage searching — kinda sounds like a party, actually — at least we’re preventing unwanted people from getting on planes. Right?Over in the U.K., however, security folks sound rather more lackadaisical. How else can you explain this shining example of goofballery: an 11-year old boy mingled with some other families at Manchester Airport and managed to hop on a plane to Rome, sans parents, a passport, or even a ticket. The kid had nothing on him, but he still wasn’t discovered until mid-flight after passengers started to wonder why some random pre-teen was wandering about. Airline Jet2 of course hadn’t confirmed seating.
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But at least an airport spokesman assured the BBC that no one was in danger:The spokesman said: "It is clear that documentation has not been checked correctly at security and the boarding gate.
“The boy went through full security screening, so the safety of passengers and the aircraft was never compromised.”
Ms Greening said: “I treat security breaches very, very seriously indeed, so we are now reviewing urgently with Manchester Airport, and indeed the airline, exactly what happened.”Okay, so the kid probably wasn’t a hijacker, but still, this is ridiculous. Or is it? Perhaps it’s a sign that the world’s fears of air terrorism are starting to calm down enough where terminals might open up again like the 80s glory days of air travel where your family could actually meet you at the gate. (There’s one obvious counterpoint.) Or maybe it’s just proof that, as airlines continue to squeeze ever penny, no one has time to worry about some jetsetting runaway.Follow Derek Mead on Twitter: @derektmead.