Last Friday I travelled by air for the first time since around Christmas. It was a one day trip, so I didn’t have to deal with the hassle of checked luggage, but overall, things seemed less out of whack than they did 6 months ago. The security procedures were relatively streamlined, and while it was a huge pain in the butt to take my laptop out of its bag and remove my wallet, keys, watch, shoes, and belt, the line moved fairly briskly given that everyone was going through a similar procedure. There seemed to be many fewer people being called aside to be searched after they went through the metal detectors as well, so it seems like we’re becoming better trained livestock over time. I also flew Southwest for the first time in a long time, and I was quite pleased with their choose your own seat boarding procedure. It seems like the last time I flew Southwest, I hated that aspect, but this time it seemed quite orderly on both the departing and return flights, and I got pretty decent seats both times.

For both my departing and returning flights, I got to the airport two hours early, and I had lots of time to kill in each case, so it seems like overall things are going pretty well in terms of efficiency in the air travel industry, based on the smallest possible sample size.

Update: Sam Ruby had a different experience with air travel this weekend.