The crisis in American air travel

In the absence of durable systemic solutions, American travelers are left to do that most American of things: fend for themselves. | Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images

I’m scheduled to take my 1-year-old on a three-hour flight just over a week from now. Probably a headache, under normal circumstances, but a bona fide nightmare amid the recent airport bedlam. I was thus relieved — overjoyed, really — to learn that the security line chaos is easing at many airports. But that doesn’t address the larger...