[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

Either licensing, or something very close to it, will happen, or there will be more cameras installed. I assume the latter would be cheaper. Jet Blue's in-cabin cameras are good, but only if there are enough cameras to cover all areas of the cabin. In the case of cameras who has access to them is important. If cameras can be accessed by the same people being photographed, or their supervisors, then cameras are a waste of time.

Licensing would be primarily a means of consumer protection. If the badge followed a taxi cab format--photo, plus large font license number--behavior in SOME staff might be changed, or at least toned-down. While there will, still, be a lot of people who, even while wearing the license badge, will continue to act like jerks, the license number will facilitate the reporting of bad or illegal behavior just like an automobile license plate does. The cost could be covered by a flat annual assessment on each airline based on the average number of employees to be licensed. There would be no training requirements beyond what is already provided by the airline. Again, the primary purpose of the license would be to facilitate reporting--to the Transportation Dept. Consumer Section--of complaints. The DOT could maintain a data base, by license number, which would enable the identification of those staff who rack up complaints in a number that is unusual for their location or the types of aircraft (seating capacity) usually assigned to. Since the license would be issued only once, someone fired from airline "A" would have their "baggage" follow them to airline "B"

As to Constitutional rights, and the behavior of airline staff: Over the years some large city police departments have found themselves being controlled by a US Dept. of Justice monitor because the given city could not be trusted to control the behavior of some Officers. Some of the offenses committed by the rogue Officers included planting drugs on defendants and the filing of false reports. Some of these Officers may have been motivated by drug problems (steroids); pressure to “fit-in,” or simple greed. The sad reality is there are a small number of employees—flight attendants and ground staff—of US-based airlines who are very similar to these rogue Officers. However, unlike the Officers, the airline employees rarely get “caught.” The end result is one can find themselves locked in a metal tube, for several hours, with a flight attendant who has absolutely no respect for the US Constitution or the civil rights of the passengers over which he/she has a significant degree of control. Hence domestic air travel has become a game of Russian roulette in terms of one’s civil liberties. If we reach the point where eradication of civil liberties—in any situation--becomes necessary then we are no better than the terrorists we claim to oppose. We have, then, “become” the enemy.