The Dangers Of Airport Security

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 success the TSA has had protecting our country has been notable. Between October 1 and October 30 2010, the TSA stopped 98 guns, 15 items, and 63 fake forms of identification. Disturbingly, the Agency has confiscated many guns, bags of drugs, and forms of fake identification. Sneaking a weapon through a checkpoint is a

September 11, 2001 was an unforgettable day when many people lost there lives and sadly, airport security failed at three different airports. Airport security is a big deal all across the country and we depend on the use of the security for the safety of our own lives along with the others around us. There were many attacks throughout history that helped the airport to see what there weaknesses were, which helps strengthen their current security systems. 9/11 was a big impact on the world and caused grief to many families, but all that grief could have been avoided if they were caught in the airport! Airport security went from relaxed to strict very quickly. There were many changes in the security before 9/11, during 9/11, and after

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.

As a response to the 9/11 attacks, one would expect that the TSA would improve airport security. In reality, it's just security theater. Originally, the use of metal detectors and luggage x-rays in airport security checkpoints was enough. However, on December 25, 2009, an inbound international

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.

Surely the TSA has foiled some sort of terrorist plot in its nearly fifteen years of existence. But in reality, as far as we know, the TSA has not caught any! Nearly 200 million dollars a year goes into a hidden layer of airport security referred to as “behavior detection” which is where specially trained agents watch out for particular patterns of body language that might indicate that somebody is planning something malicious and apprehending them. However this supposed “vital layer” of security has done nothing more than catch drug smugglers and other such criminals. (CITATION 3) Which is great, but it was not drug smugglers that crashed planes into the World Trade Center. Adding more salt to the wound, an investigation conducted by the Government Accountability Office found in that sixteen individuals later linked with terrorist activities flew 23 different times through United States Airports and not a single one was stopped by the so called “behavior detection officers.” (CITATION

The airlines pretended to deliver security and the government pretended to find it OK,’ former Department of Transportation Inspector General Mary Schiavo said” (Ross). Before the events of 9/11, airport security consisted only of a metal detector, and each airport was responsible for its own security. People without tickets could go past security to wait with loved ones, and because airports had not yet imposed strict security rules, there were no two-hour wait lines like there is today (Seaney). Before 9/11, airports only checked five percent of luggage for explosives (Iorfino). And, as with the al-Qaeda hijackers, small knives were not seen as a threat.

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.

The TSA have caught “TSA officers discovered 2,212 firearms in carry-on bags” (“TSA releases 2015 statistics.” Transportation Security Administration, 21 Jan. 2016) The TSA screen up to 1.9 million people per day to see if their trying to pass with any illegal traveling weapons or if they have any firearms. The TSA “screened more than 432 million checked bags, more than 1.6 billion carry-on bags and 12.9 million airport employees”, they check everyone and try to ensure that everyone who enters and leaves the airport travels with safe passage and with nothing to worry about. The TSA also put Air Marshals on planes so many times to make ensure the safe passage of citizens that if the total amount of miles were to be added up it would be more than a billion miles that Air

In this article, Alycia B. Taylor, CPO and Sara Steedman discuss airlines security situations before and after a terrorist attack. September 11, 2001, is a day which changed the outlook of the nations ensure flight safety, not just in the United States but it also became a worldwide issue. After these events, the people of America, as well as citizens of other countries, could not feel safe during commercial flights.

When it comes to airport security methods there is conflicting views on it. Are they the best method used by the government for a passenger’s safety or are there better methods available were passengers feel the same amount of safety. Full body scans along with pat-downs are the methods used by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to ensure the safety of passengers before boarding a plane. The common metal detector is now not enough to provide a clear and effective solution to what a passenger is carrying on them before boarding. Passengers have felt that the TSA and the scans violate the Fourth Amendment and the Privacy Act because they are required to at least go through one search method in order to board a plane.. As a result of this there are mixed views some leading to lawsuits and one’s health is being question with these methods being used.

According to the CIA World Fact Book, there are 43,983 airports in the world, and it can only be inferred that these airports have security systems to keep things running smoothly. In recent years, our security has improved tremendously in airports however that does not mean there will not be critics present. They claim our airport security invades the privacy of innocent people. They check through our phones unwarranted, and share our information across countries, putting us at greater risk. On the other hand, many believers of aviation security believe this is fine, saying that it ensures our safety. Less usage of these systems will leave us susceptible to more attacks. Aviation security is a controversial topic because one side believes that it invades personal privacy, while others believe it is necessary for our safety.