All "laid-off" airline employees should be immediately hired as consultants by the new office of homeland protection or whatever it was. Don't bail out the airline companies, who cares about their profits. Bail out the people who are about to lose their jobs - and in so doing, get all their expertise in answering the question How would you get past yourself if you were a terrorist? Baggage handlers would then help close the baggage loopholes, pilots the cockpit ones, attendants the passenger ones, and so on. When we get out air traffic back and people are rehired into the industry it will then be a lot safer, at least... and if people don't go back to flying, no need to bail out the companies.

This applies to travel of humans, of course. Cargo would still need to go, but not ever on a plane with passengers. What we'll do about crop dusting, or rich folks with personal planes, I haven't thought of yet.