On December 28th, I posted an Open Letter To American Airlines

On January 9th, I received a response from American Airlines.

Below is a copy of my response to American Airlines.

Ms. Gipson:

Thank you for your timely response to an open letter I sent your airline on December 28th, concerning an experience I had while flying your airline on December 13th.

The regular readers of my online column were quite anxious to read your reply.

Because of this demand, your response and a copy of this letter have been posted at www.JimDuensing.com.

There appears to be a misunderstanding between us. I was not embarrassed by the passenger and baggage screening process. One cannot personally be embarrassed by assaults against one's privacy and individual security. Embarrassment is the product of one's own conduct.

However, I was greatly upset that your airline under the auspices of my personal protection invaded my personal space to deprive me of the instruments of my personal protection.

My concerns with the invasive search procedures I went through in order to board your airline stem from the ineffectiveness of such searches in preventing future terrorist attacks.

Indeed, such procedures only serve to aid terrorists by assuring them that their victims are disarmed.

Conducting ineffective invasive terrorist-assisting searches in a confined space populated by seasoned searchers would not cause me to give your airline my patronage.

Since your letter suggests that such a change in policy would alleviate or eliminate my concerns, I must assume that the meaning of my letter was not clear to you.

In the interests of clarity, what will cause me to return to your airline is for your organization to justify or alter the following policies.

1.) Attempting to remove from the immediate proximity of your passengers the instruments of their defense.

2.) Requiring your customers to undergo invasive search procedures which can only serve to condition them to additional invasive procedures.

3.) Allowing soldiers with automatic weapons, who negligently shoot themselves, to be placed in your concourses.

4.) Refusing your pilots the ability to have firearms within their immediate proximity for the defense of themselves, their passengers, their crew, your plane, and the occupants of any building it might be flown into.

Thank you again for your prior timely response.

My readers and I look forward to any response you may have, addressing the concerns I attempted to express in my first letter and which this letter is intended to elucidate.

Sincerely,

Jim Duensing

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