Reply #8: That's called chaff, it's installed on military a/c [View All]

Israel has ONE airline. With a tiny percentage of planes compared to US carriers. You cannot credibly compare what Israel does, with a national airline that is closely allied to their defense structure (they use their defense assets to protect the airline), to what the US does. It's apples and oranges.

Sure, US air carriers could install that equipment, but then, would you want it serviced in SINGAPORE? Because that's where a lot of our maintenance happens, nowadays....

And having chaff on airlines (which basically is tin foil tossed off to the side, so the missle follows the foil and not the exhaust of the plane) isn't going to solve the "shoe" problem. It will solve the "jerk with a stinger at the end of the runway" problem--MAYBE--assuming the pilot has enough time and warning to punch that button and jink the plane.

This isn't rocket science. They need to work on that stupid puffer thing, and get it to work. Not x-ray people, shake them down, make them take off their shoes, toss their shit. That intimidation is just ... dumb.