The TSA has backed off of some of the silliest policies implemented in the breathless reaction to the “crotch bomber” on Christmas Day. That’s a smidgen of good news. But that’s hardly the final word. A rundown of some of the latest questions, concerns, complaints, and updates:

Upgraded: The final hour of travel to the United States
The ban on movement in the last hour, and the ban on holding or doing anything, is over. Mostly. The choice is now in the hands of the captain of the plane. A pleasant change from the universal ban, but you are likely to see some variation out there.

Downgraded: Travel from Canada to the United States
Transport Canada has banned carry-on bags on flights to the US. It’s a short-term ban (through 9pm EST today, Dec 29), but it’s brutal. No carry-ons except those that are often called “personal items”:

Passengers may carry with them the following items: medication or medical devices, small purses, cameras, coats, items for care of infants, laptop computers, crutches, canes, walkers, containers carrying life sustaining items, a special needs item, musical instruments, or diplomatic or consular bags.

We’ll see how long this lasts.

Upgraded: Alaska Airlines
Nice move: Because this qualifies as “irregular operations,” Alaska Airlines is waiving the checked baggage fees for those who could otherwise have carried onboard. The full text: “To minimize boarding delays, passengers are encouraged to check all their luggage. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air will waive baggage fees for items checked as baggage that the passenger otherwise would have taken aboard as carry-on baggage from Mexico or Canada.” Classy. Will any others follow suit?

Upgraded, slightly: Inflight entertainment systems
Onboard entertainment systems, which were sporadically shut down completely, should be back up and running. The map feature is expected to be turned off, because we all know that terrorists can’t look out a window or whip out a GPS unit…

Downgraded: Channel 9
United Airlines fliers who appreciate Channel 9 (the audio channel allowing passengers to hear the cockpit communication with air traffic control) will be sad to hear that the airline is shutting the channel off on international flights headed to the United States.

Downgraded: Patdowns
So passengers are being patted down at the gate. But Abdulmutallab had the explosives stitched into his underwear. Would that really have been captured with a frisking? How frisky?

Downgraded: Scanners
As mentioned in yesterday’s post, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport noted that they had a number of millimeter-wave scanners that were not being used on flights to the US. But even if these are put to use, it is a delusion to think that this will stop all terrorist attacks. Schiphol’s scanners are “not as powerful as the full-body X-ray machines used by border control agencies, which can detect items such as drugs concealed inside the body.” (A rundown of different scanners is here.) Committed terrorists will innovate, and that can easily mean bombs implanted inside the body. An attempt to kill the Saudi Arabia’s chief of counterterrorism, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, was originally reported as having been carried out using a rectum bomb. That report was later discredited. But some version of such an attack, in the future, is potentially plausible.

Upgraded: Reality checks
For once, I have some praise for Kip Hawley, the former director of the TSA. Quoted in today’s New York Times, he says: “It is a fool’s errand to try to make the aviation system terrorist proof. The only way to do that is ground the airplanes.” True words, indeed.