Air Travel: It May Not Be As Enjoyable, But It Is Safer Essay

According to the former federal air marshal P. Jeffrey Black, “‘What we've got now is nothing but security theater, meaning all these bells and whistles that you see are only meant to make you feel safe.’” The documentary, “Please Remove Your Shoes,” argues that the TSA has grown into a “massive government bureaucracy with too much money” and “focuses on herding people through checkpoints as fast as possible and hires poorly-trained workers who dress up in uniforms and play cop.” Steve Elson was a security special agent with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He was hired to attempt to sneak guns, bombs, and other weapons past security. He got through security ninety percent of the time without his weapons being detected. Apparently, Elson said, the FAA did not validate his results because they only wanted him to try to pass security using a certain size gun (Mayerowitz). This reaction from the FAA was unacceptable to Elson because he knew that terrorists are crafty and unpredictable. As long as they have a different size gun than what the FAA planned for, they would more than likely pass security. One of Elson’s coworkers, Dzakovic, said that at most airports uncover bombs twenty percent of the time. “‘Usually the worse the results were that we had on any given project, the less we were tasked to test to see if they had improved,’ Dzakovic said.” To Dzakovic and Elson, their managers were incapable of acknowledging that their process might not be perfect. Another critic of the TSA is the House Representative John Mica. He said, “‘I helped create TSA and I've referred to it sometimes as either my b****** child or a monster that we've created, a bureaucratic monster. It didn't turn out exactly the way I

As an aviation management major airport security is a concern that I have taken a huge interest in. Making travel safer to air travelers is one of the biggest tasks that will never end as long as there is a plane in the sky. However, there are many problems that come about when traveling because passengers feel as if they are being harassed, which doesn’t set a good look for the Transportation Security Administration. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) consist of 50,000 security officers, inspectors, directors, air marshals and managers who protect the nation's transportation systems so you and your family can travel safely. They look for bombs at checkpoints in airports, they inspect rail cars, they patrol subways with our

According to Jason Villemez of the PBS News Hour, there were immediate changes to airport security following 9/11. Within 2 months of the attacks, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act was passed. This law requires that every single bag is screened at airports andrequires that certain procedures are followed at every airport (Swickard). Before 9/11, scissors, baseball bats, darts, and 4-inch-long blades were allowed, but these are now illegal under the ATSA (O’Connor). The Aviation and Transportation Security Act also created the Transportation Security Administration known as the TSA (Tognotti). Each airport had to supply their own security before 9/11, but with the creation of the TSA, the government supplied security for airports (Villemez). Gabi Logan of USA Today found that the increase in security including baggage checks caused a six percent decrease in the number of passengers. Passengers chose not to travel at all or found a different way to get to their destination. While security in airports was significantly increased, 9/11 also affected millions of Americans involved in the war on terror”.

The Travel security agency, or the TSA, is an important agency whose job it is to protect our nation in airports and borders. Impressively, the Agency has stopped many weapons, and saved our citizens numerous times. According to several experts however, the TSA has never stopped a terrorist plot. Their methods have been questioned too. As our nation grows deeper and deeper in debt, the TSA is a huge cost that may need to be cut. In order to gain a clear understanding of the TSA, its successes, issues, and cost must be evaluated critically.

The September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks forever changed the way our air travel industry operates. It affected the government, the airlines, airports, employees, and passengers alike. There was not as much of a threat of terrorism before 9/11, so airport security was not nearly as thorough, and at times intrusive as it is today. Through the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, the evolving threat of terrorism has not been successful in carrying out another 9/11 style attack.

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics a total of 631,939,829 passengers boarded domestic flights in the United States in the year 2010. This averages to 1.73 million passengers flying per day (Cessoni.) All of these people must go through security checkpoints provided by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA.) TSA’s history, cost, and specific purpose are ideas I will discuss further.

Shortly after 9/11 twelve years ago, the federal government created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to protect air travel and prevent similar attacks. In 2012, the TSA had a budget of $8.1 billion, and while it claims to improve airport security, it fails to do so. Additionally, their checkpoints are privacy-invasive and cumbersome, negatively impacting the air travel industry. For these reasons, the agency should be abolished.

In November of 2001, the United States was still reeling from the attacks on September 11 of that same year. President George W. Bush created a new organization to prevent future attacks on American flyers. The organization was called the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA. The TSA was tasked with implementing security measures to protect travelers. At first, the measures were welcomed by the public. They were seen as a necessary measure to protect against future 9/11 style attacks. But now, 15 years later, the measures the TSA have put in place have been questioned repeatedly by members of the public, the press and congress. Incidents such as the Underwear Bomber, where a Nigerian

Airport security in the post 9/11 era is designed to create the illusion of safety, without actually protecting us from terrorism. It is important to recognize, that the TSA is incredibly ineffective, at preventing prohibited items from getting past its gates. In a recent test at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, undercover federal agents successful snuck in 95 percent of explosive materials, fake weapons and drugs. While this failure rate is certainly alarmingly high it is by no way unique. In a similar, but slightly broader Homeland Security investigation, the TSA failed 67 out of 70 tests conducted by the department’s Red Team across a variety of cities. Furthermore, the layout of security at airports is incredible ineffective. According to renowned security expert, Rafi Sela, “security should happen in rings, so different teams can check each other’s work.” However, in American Airports the only place that security happens is at one checkpoint.

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, airport security went through major changes and procedures. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) which oversees airport security

Through the history of aviation the importance of airport security has steadily increased. Since the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, many changes have taken place at airports to prevent such an attack from occurring again. The purpose of this paper is to: outline airport security procedures, discuss the different technologies involved with airport security, as well as examine the components of airport security. In addition I will also discuss the Transportation Security Administration’s role in our nation’s airport security.

Body: Air travel is a fast and convenient way to reach a destination. Even if many passengers may complain of missed flights, delays during the holidays, and the number of carry-ons they are allowed to bring onto the plane, air travel is an important part of quick transportation. One essential part of the airport system is security. Today, security is a major priority that airports must administer strictly. Due to the recent terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, airports along with airlines want their customers to feel safe. An interest in airport security took me to the Tallahassee Regional Airport. Except for the

“Brrrring” rang the alarm. When I woke up I had to take a shower. I woke up around 7:30am just before my grandma came to pick us up(my brother Chris, sister Megan, My mom, and I). We were going to Florida to go down to Disney. All of us are riding in two airplanes down to Disney, and this will be my first plane ride that I went on. My grandma picked us up at our house and the airport is an hour away from us. When we got to the airport it didn’t take long to get through the security to the wait room before we had to go on the airplane. We waited for about an hour for it to arrive and be al set to go.

Many years ago airport security was not even an issue. People felt secure and safe and rarely worried about being searched. As time went on, the prevealance of terrorism became an increasing issue. There began more acts of terrorism by threatening and holding hostages on board commercial planes. As these acts continued, the government as well as citizens became vulnerable and an airport safety procedure was implemented as a way to ensure the safety of the United States. The implemented procedures over the years included a check and scan of all carry on and checked baggage, body scans, hire government airport employees, and a strict list of carry-on items. This made travelers feel safer as it decreased the ability of terrorist to commit

increased its efforts in protecting its airports. At that time, “the security scanners already in place in most airports included baggage x-rays, metal detectors, and chemical residue detectors, which help security staff search out illegal items that a passenger might have” (DiLascio). These security scanners unfortunately failed in their job. Since then, the Transportation Security Administration has been keeping American airports safe using the latest technology. Airports have now been fitted with high-tech body scanners rather than the archaic metal detectors that only detect metal objects. During the past few years, individuals have attacked the