The "no fly" list does not mean you can't fly, it just means they're going to make your life difficult in the process.
My wife made the no fly list back when she was consulting with IBM a number of years ago. She was no longer allowed seat assignments, had to check in in person, and was always subjected to full swab testing and a pat down. She eventually made it off the list, but there was no telling what got her on it. When her tickets were printed, they would have no seat assignment and be covered with a number of large X's which was an indicator she was going to be subjected to search. We made a few assumptions as to her travel behavior that likely attributed.
She had purchased too many one way tickets and wouldn't cancel them if she had to re-schedule (as is the ways of consulting). There were also a few incidents of getting a cheaper ticket and skipping later segments.
Either way, it really puts a damper on travel when all you want to do is get in and sit down.
I don't think your wife was truly on the no-fly list. It sounds like your wife was flagged for additional screening due to her travel patterns. In the case of Ibrahim she flat out was not allowed to fly to the US.
Yeah I ended up getting a lot of additional screening when I was a contractor for the TSA, mostly because travel plans were often made at the last minute and I had a lot of one way tickets.
My wife made the no fly list back when she was consulting with IBM a number of years ago. She was no longer allowed seat assignments, had to check in in person, and was always subjected to full swab testing and a pat down. She eventually made it off the list, but there was no telling what got her on it. When her tickets were printed, they would have no seat assignment and be covered with a number of large X's which was an indicator she was going to be subjected to search. We made a few assumptions as to her travel behavior that likely attributed.
She had purchased too many one way tickets and wouldn't cancel them if she had to re-schedule (as is the ways of consulting). There were also a few incidents of getting a cheaper ticket and skipping later segments.
Either way, it really puts a damper on travel when all you want to do is get in and sit down.