FLYING UNDER THE NEW SECURITY RULES: Varifrank reports:

How long did it take to get ticketed, baggage checked, through security and to the gate today at Austin?

30 minutes. Of course everyone in the boarding area was reading newspapers with the headlines ” Chaos at Americas Airports”. I just had to laugh. It was no worse than your average Christmas.

Virginia Postrel filed a similar report on Thursday. And here’s a report from Heathrow: “The flight today was by far the biggest hassle I have had flying since September 11th, that said, it didn’t take that much longer than normal even with all the extra security.”

UPDATE: A rather less positive Heathrow experience, reported here.