I too am not a frequent flier, but I have seen the security at big airports like Dallas and Chicago in US, London and Mumbai. The security check in India is pretty poor, with a lot of flagged stuff not being detected. But in US and London, it is amazing. You cannot take anything with you which they don't want you to. I have missed my connecting flights in Chicago twice flying from India, with all the elaborate security checks. They basically make you unpack everything in your hand baggage, separate the liquids and put in a separate cover, put your laptop in a separate tray, all metallic objects, cellphones, shoes, etc separately. On top of all this, the immigration guys take my finger prints when I leave and enter. Infact, even before i was granted visa as a student, they had my finger prints taken at the US consulate in India. That means even if they reject my visa and I were never to enter US, they would still have my finger prints recorded. Now talk of the statistics! How many Hindu males from India (the demographic I fit in) have blown up buildings in US? If I am not mistaken, a UK citizen neither needs a visa nor is he/she finger printed in US. Guys who worry about being extra poilitically correct, don't worry at all. Profiling is in place already. My room-mate's friend was called for separate questioning twice at airport because of his looks. My room-mate does acknowledge that his friend looks a little suspicious, but hey that is not his fault! I think the security at US airports is sufficiently elaborate. I personally don't mind being subjected to whatever security measures, if it makes other travellers comfortable. But passengers complaining to airline staff about some arab looking passengers behaving suspiciously (as it happened a couple of times) is a deadly combination of paranoia, prejudice and racism. If you look at them suspiciously, they are going to behave differently than normal The security should be left to airport authorities and not passengers and airline staff.