It's really nothing new at all: airport security had to be beefed up due to the hijacking craze of the '70s and '80s. And even before that, in the '50s and '60s the previous airliner terror craze involved bombing airliners for such reasons as insurance scams.
Just about the only thing truly new, in my view, is that the Internet and social media allow stories of airport security screwups and the like to be disseminated much more rapidly than ever before.
Just about the only thing truly new, in my view, is that the Internet and social media allow stories of airport security screwups and the like to be disseminated much more rapidly than ever before.