No Cutting

Should elite airline passengers get to skip security lines -- even during a national emergency?

AVIATION OFFICIALS claim that airport security waits yesterday weren't much longer than normal. But to travelers, some queues seemed longer than your average Siberian bread line after the Transportation Security Administration added new requirements -- including removing all liquids from carry-on luggage -- to the long list of security protocols airline passengers already had to endure.

Most air travelers took the beefed-up security -- and the occasionally interminable waits that followed -- in stride. First- and business-class passengers in most airports, on the other hand, didn't have to. As usual, higher-class passengers skipped most of the security queues at hubs such as Dulles and Los Angeles international airports. That's hardly fair.

We understand why travelers in first class and business get preferential treatment in airline baggage lines; it's one of the perks they pay for. Checked baggage handling is a service that airlines elect to provide, and they can administer it however they see fit. But does the same logic extend to an official public service? When security alerts like yesterday's bring hassle and delay, it shouldn't be only the travelers with coach seats who have to sacrifice their time to ensure the safety of American aviation.

The TSA insists it has no authority over queues before airport magnetometers. Its charge, says a TSA spokesman, is merely to screen all passengers who approach their security stations. How they get there is up to the airlines. Municipal airport authorities can also duck the blame. Because it is airline employees who check identification cards and tickets before passengers approach airport magnetometers, airlines have exclusive control over the queues. For that reason, the process isn't even uniform among all airports.

But the ID and ticket check before the X-ray machines is a security measure, no matter who's providing the staffing. It's not clear why people should be able to buy their way out of line.