Should commercial airplanes be equipped with countermeasures such as flares and chaff?
I don’t see a need for it honestly. It’s hard enough convincing passengers that they are safe during take-off and landing, let alone tell them we are carrying countermeasures in case we are shot at by infared missiles. In war zones however, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, there isn’t a high amount of commercial air traffic anyway, making it useful only to military aircraft. For instance, it would be silly to carry flares and chaff for a flight from JFK to Frankfurt, since neither country will be shooting at us. (at least I hope not) Also, as is the case with any additional accessories or systems on a plane, they come with weight and cost. Hauling around flares and chaff bombs would add more weight to the plane and therefore decrease the amount of other things, such as passengers, luggage, and fuel, that could be carried instead.
