Airlines: The Hippie Carrier

As an Icelandic Airlines plane revved up for a flight to the U.S. last week at the Luxembourg international airport, the scene near the boarding area was typical of the line's departures. Most of the passengers—a few families with children, many students with rucksacks and a large contingent of disheveled hippies —had been waiting for six hours or more. The young people passed the time dozing on the grass, discussing astrological signs or swapping stories in the harshly lit shed that serves as a waiting room. Quite a few passengers were smoking—but not necessarily tobacco. A Luxembourg policeman moved...