2006 Awards: Best Villain
Kip Hawley is trying to do a very important job, and a tough one at that. "Trying" being the operative word there. The TSA chief attracted the contempt of many a frequent traveler this year, and no Travel Villain made an impact in 2006 like he did. The TSA's ban on carry-on gels & liquids (later morphed into the "3-1-1" zip-top baggie rule) invented ridiculosity-as-fine art. Mustard packets do not bring down 747s. And don't even get us started on Kip & crew's No Fly List.
The absolute worst of the rules have been "refined," but everyone who flies now lives with often boggling restrictions. Staunch opponents of baggage checking have been forced to check their luggage for the first time in years; countless skim chai lattes have met early deaths at the security line. Some of the best critiques of this year's circus appeared in the New York Times and, of course, FlyerTalk, where news of the infamous "Kip Hawley Is an Idiot" incident (and its companion website) first broke.We have not purchased one of those teddy bears yet, but in spirit, we already own 1000.
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