Decision-Making Quote by Isaac Yeffet

There is a cold, managerial honesty in this line: it refuses the romantic fantasy that ordinary people will reliably become heroes at 35,000 feet. By framing himself as “the head of security,” Yeffet isn’t just stating an opinion; he’s invoking a duty-of-care argument. Security, in this telling, is not a moral pep talk but a systems problem with liability, training, and predictable outcomes. The blunt phrase “risk their lives and jump on a terrorist” punctures the post-9/11 folklore of the brave passenger as a default solution.

The subtext is a rebuke to policy-by-anecdote. After high-profile incidents where passengers intervened, public conversation often veers toward “why didn’t someone tackle him?” Yeffet preemptively rejects that premise. He implies that relying on civilians is not only unethical but strategically unserious: passengers are untrained, unevenly able, and, crucially, not consenting participants in a security plan. The word “can’t” is doing legal and moral work; it signals institutional limits, not personal squeamishness.

Then comes the policy pitch: “air marshals on every flight.” It’s maximalist by design, converting a moral constraint (don’t draft passengers into combat) into a concrete demand for state presence. The rhetorical move is effective because it recasts security theater as security responsibility: if the threat is real, the burden must be professionalized. It also quietly shifts accountability upward, away from individual courage and toward the institutions that sell safety as part of the ticket.