I am going to guess that since this gentleman is a San Francisco resident, he is mainly flying out of SFO, and perhaps OAK and San Jose. Being that I have used the SFO airport most of my life, they seriously don't take any crap and had harsh security measures well before 9/11. There is a machine at security that is used to check for bomb residue, and three times in a row I was selected. They also were checking IDs at the gate as well as at the ticket counters and at security. Yeah it is annoying, but as long as they are consistent about it so be it. My mother had to take a flight from Oakland when my grandmother was on her death bed and since she had booked a one way flight that day with no luggage, they yanked her right out of line. My sister has also booked one way flights from Oakland to visit me (she was driving home with me) with no luggage and they drill her as well.
However I have been to other airports and it blows my mind. The last time I flew the person at the counter didn't even check my ID, and I was checking my bag late. When I asked him, he said he saw my mileage status, my first class booking, and that "I looked like a nice young lady", and wasn't concerned
! Since I am a first class passenger I got to go to the express security line as well. What didn't happen in that aiport or the other three I went through on that trip was checking my ID at the gate. What is stopping people from swapping tickets once they are through security, especially if the airport has one main security entrance?
Does this guy not get it that IDs aren't checked just for terrorist purposes, but also for record keeping? What if there is a crash or a hijacking, wouldn't he want his family to be appropriately notified? I bet if there was profiling at the airport he'd complain about that too. At least San Francisco is equal in their applications, they aren't going to wave people through that do not fit their notion of a terrorist.