Last week, most of the news coverage about the TSA’s new security restrictions was fairly positive — travelers were inconvenienced, but taking it in stride and soldiering on. However, with the TSA now suggesting that many of these restrictions could become permanent, the coverage is shifting. USA Today, the unofficial newspaper of frequent travelers, put a red roller-board on the Tuesday front page next to the headline — “Veteran travelers find it hard to carry on”.

The article quoted one fed-up frequent traveler — “I figured this couldn’t possibly last and flying would eventually return to normal. But now… I’ve reached my tipping point. I’ve decided not to fly until the lastest Draconian carry-on prohibitions are significantly rolled back.”

Another frequent traveler didn’t go quite as far…yet. “I’ll adjust temporarily by checking in my bag. But Sunday’s 40-minute wait to get back my bag in Toronto was excessive, and needing to get to the airport an extra 30 minutes before to make sure I can get my bag checked in time will take its toll. It’s a touchy subject to folks like myself, and I can guarantee a drop-off in travel if more restrictions are enforced.”

And indeed the drop-off seems to have begun. I’m on my 3rd flight this week — I flew down to Houston Monday night, back to Chicago Tuesday night, and out ot San Francisco this morning — and there’s a significant drop in seat occupany. Two weeks ago, I was happy to score a middle seat in the exit row. On my last two flights, I had the exit row to myself.

It also seems that people have factored in the additional hour caused by checking luggage into their “fly-or-drive” and “train-or-drive” calculus. A colleague who lives in Dallas has started driving to projects in Houston and Austin, while East Coast colleagues are switching over to Amtrak’s Acela service for travel along the Northeast Corridor.

Back in Podcast #42, we talked about record seat occupany levels driving US airline profits in the first half of this year. Full planes allowed the airlines to make ticket price increases stick — the combination of which outweight the impact of rising fuel prices. It will be interesting to see their September results…