In a time when parts of our air traffic control system can shut down for two hours without backup, you know it’s tempting for Congress to get involved, especially with the upcoming FAA reauthorization. Wait, the FAA reauthorization is still spinning in circles? So what could they be working on?

06_09_12 jackassIt’s been awhile since I’ve whipped out the Cranky Jackass, but Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) and Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.) have certainly earned it this week. While there are plenty of major problems facing the US Congress right now, these two have opted to launch a bid to pass the Family Friendly Flights Act.

This ridiculous piece of legislation is designed to force airlines that don’t make all programming family friendly (what does that mean, exactly?) to create sections on every airplane that would not have viewable movie screens. Why? To protect children from seeing images that are too graphic. Why the heck is Congress involved with this? Don’t you have better things to do?

You know what ends up happening here? A bunch of passengers suffer without inflight entertainment just because a couple of parents can’t prevent their kid from watching the movie. Give ‘em a blindfold or some baby Ambien (or something else that doesn’t exist just in fantasy land). Or better yet, just don’t fly on planes with overhead screens. This doesn’t impact flights with personal screens because you can turn those off yourself, so there are plenty of options for parents who really care about this.

On overseas flights, make sure you fly someone that has personal screens. For domestic flights? Fly Southwest – you won’t see a screen on any airplane. Or fly American’s MD80s – not a screen to be found. There are million different options if you really want to “protect” your children. But don’t rely on the government to step in and do something that will anger more people than it will help.

And as for you, Congressmen . . . get back to doing some real work, please. This is a waste of everyone’s time. Let’s hope this goes nowhere, kind of like most of Shuler’s passes in the NFL.

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