EDITORIAL
Air travel bogged down with worries

The Transportation Security Administration has certainly made an example of Mojdeh Rohani of Boston. She accidentally packed a silver-plated cake-serving set in her carry-on bag instead of checking it in.

It was a wedding gift. It could happen to anyone. Nonetheless, the TSA fined her $150 for the security faux pas.

And she got off easy. Under new TSA guidelines, penalties range between $250 and $10,000.

They apply to passengers who pack knives, box cutters, nail scissors and other banned items in their carry-on luggage — and who have an "attitude."

The new guidelines, which have been in the works for a year, were posted Wednesday on the TSA Web site.

This is news to us, and somewhat disconcerting.

What is the definition of a prohibited item? For example, a hand mirror could be broken, with the shards used as a weapon. But we frequently see those move through the X-ray machine without a second thought.

And how do we present an airport-worthy attitude?

Each day, the TSA intercepts more than 15,000 prohibited items at airports across the nation. Surely, the owners aren't all being fined.

We can understand penalizing passengers for packing firearms and obvious weapons in their carry-on luggage. But these vague new guidelines seem like one more reason to dread air travel.