Most do still fly, some don't. I wish we could make more and quicker progress towards getting the theater aspect out of the legitimate imperative of providing security for flights so that it ceases to be an impediment for those that are deterred from flying just due to the theater aspect of security that exists today. But IMHO that is best achieved by being analytical about it and pointing out to the powers that be what needs to change rather than being hysterical about it. The latter approach cause one to lose credibility as a serious contributor to the discussion and progress towards acceptable solutions.
It's a lot more than the fact that it's "Just Theater", as you put it. I played my small role in their interminable production for a number of years, but the change they made to the patdown procedures 2 years ago to "Encourage Compliance" with the roll-out of the scanners was the last straw for me - I'd been through one of those patdowns before and have zero interest in repeating the experience. None.
If it was just theater, that's one thing. When it gets to be to the level it is now, it's not "Just" theater, it's just plain wrong. And if you had to go through that pat-down every time I'm sure you'd agree.
Now, if you agree with Schneier, then we're probably very close on what we'd like to see in terms of airport security.
Personally, I'd like to see the following:
1) A return to 9/10/11 security at the checkpoint: With the change in "In the air" policies of hardened cockpit doors, armed flight crews and no longer cooperating with hijacker demands, another 9/11 style hijacking is next to impossible. The box-cutters the terrorists brought on board were actually permitted items on 9/10/11, and if you really feel SOMETHING MUST be done then I guess the ban on those and small knives can stay. But the fact of the matter is nobody's taking a plane with a small blade any more.
2) Return airport security to the private sector/airports/airlines, with the TSA relegated to an oversight/inspection agency: The FDA doesn't manufacture food, the NTSB doesn't drive trucks, there's no reason the TSA should be on the front line doing the job. This will remove the "Quasi-Federal-Agent" status of the inspectors, and ensure better quality through the public sector. Airports could either enter into competitive bid process with existing agencies, or do it themselves, just like they used to.
3) End of the shoe/liquid/electronics carnival: No other country on this dadgum planet is still requiring shoes to be removed, and most if not all have removed the liquid restrictions, and yet somehow airliners are not falling out of the skies on a daily basis. These restrictions are over-reactions that were enacted knee-jerk-style like everything else, and should find their way to the dustbin of history.
4) A strict focus on WEI (Weapons/Explosives/Incindenaries): No more fishing expeditions rifling through papers looking for "Divorce situations", no more questioning why someone is carrying so much cash, no more fishing expeditions. If it's a) Not WEI and b) Not an exigent violent crime, then get a warrant like the constitution says. No using administrative searches as backdoor dragnets.
5) Return the HHMD and LIMITED patdown to that area to resolve alarms from the WTMD, and repurpose the scanners to secondary resolution only: That was the original stated purpose of the scanners, and that's where they should be sent.
6) A focus on developing technologies that detect explosives remotely, as hard objects are no longer as much of a threat (see #1 above): This would return the focus on the real threat - explosives. They had walk-through puffers that worked well, but were difficult to maintain, and their manufacturer wasn't a former head of the DHS like the scanner makers are. So they got warehoused. Iron out the kinks and use them.
And yet it is a phenomenally successful and popular airline though everyone incessantly complains about it.
