In a few weeks, some of the editors at the Northern Star will be boarding a plane bound for a conference in New Orleans.

After the events over Chicago on Monday and in the shadow of the Sept. 11 attacks, a few of us are a little nervous.

Monday afternoon, a 30-year-old man travelling with his father from Los Angeles to Chicago broke into the cockpit of American Airlines Flight 1238. He was subdued by two pilots and several passengers, and the flight landed at O’Hare International Airport at 3:16 p.m.

His father said he had a history of mental illness.

Residents of Chicago’s Northwest suburbs were calling police when they heard the sonic boom of two Air Force fighter jets as they flew overhead.

Let’s face it, we’re all a little jumpy right now. American citizens have been under a veil of silent paranoia for the past 29 days.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft are warning America of future terrorist activity while President George W. Bush is maintaining an attitude of an optimistic parent encouraging us to trust in air travel.

Air travel is unavoidable in such a highly mobile society. We lost billions of dollars and thousands of workers when the Federal Aviation Administration closed the airports for several

days following the attacks.

Now our government is scrambling to save the U.S. economy, even if that means kicking us into the air before we’re ready.

None of us wants to be 30,000 feet off the ground when a guy who forgot to take his Prozac gets a little loopy.

Politicians are encouraging air travel, but they’re using private planes. That’s not entirely encouraging for those of us who lack the luxury of a flight crew on standby.

Unfortunately, the airlines are not yet equipped to assure our safety in the skies. The airlines now have a budget to begin reinforcing the security on their jetliners, but we haven’t seen the results yet.

We have to be aware that our government is working on a solution, and that it will take time.

Meanwhile, we’ll take a deep breath and step on the plane bound for New Orleans, hoping to see some sign that our government respects our fears and wants to keep us safe.