Last week I was in Leipzig where I attended the residential week of our Euro MBA program. I decided to use the train to go to Leipzig. The trip was quite convenient: jump on the bus in Gulpen (where I live) to Aachen and then on the train to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt change train and take the one to Dresden and get off the train in Leipzig. All in all it takes about 5 hours. The trains offer a lot of space and the facilities at the Frankfurt and the Leipzig Bahnhof can compete with the facilities on modern airports. Last but not least, the hotel in Leipzig was opposite to the train station so within 10 minutes after leaving the train I was in my hotel room. Now I am in Clemson, South Carolina and I booked a flight from Brussels to Atlanta. Because some typo made it possible that somebody that should not have been allowed to board, boarded on a plane to the US the safety regulations at the airports have increased. It started with the booking when the travel agent warns you to be in time, that is to say 3 hours (!) before the flight should start. Of course I did not follow this advice and checked in 2.5 hours before the start of the flight. At the check in counter they told me to immediately go to the gate because boarding was about to start! It shouldn’t get worse. And indeed, at the gate the boarding started and it became clear why it took so much time: all hand luggage was extensively checked. You had to unpack your backpack and everything was checked. They opened the books and the magazines, they unpacked the gifts, they checked the usb sticks, it was quite absurd in my view. Did they know that the guy brought his stuff in his underwear that he was wearing it not in his backpack? Did they know that my backpack was already extensively checked at these famous checkpoints on the airports? After about one hour or so I could board. In Atlanta it is even more absurd. All passengers have to collect their suitcase, bring it to a counter where they send it to some terminal (after an extensive check of course) and you have to pick this again before you leave the airport. Enjoy two luggage belts! And to make sure that everything is ok, you have to undergo an extensive hand-luggage check (including take off your shoes. When will we face the first airport where all passengers have to undress themselves completely?) before you can leave the airport. All in all it took 2 hours after landing before we could leave the airport. For me it is clear: if there is no necessity to take the plane, I prefer the train!