Airline Security

In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the federal government has directed its focus towards national security by improving airport security nationwide by taking control and voting to improve airport security nationwide. Pre-September 11, airport security was the responsibility of either the individual airports that hired out security services to inconsistent, non-conforming, private companies, or airlines whose employees were in charge of checking in passengers, loading baggage, ordering fuel, checking weather, and coordinating all other aspect of the flight while providing customer service. These overworked, and under trained employees worked to screen and board passengers. That system has now been abandoned and in its place, the federal government has administered a progressively impenetrable and completely stanch system administered by the federal government. With the help of the federal government's efficiency, and budget, airport security is now organized and controlled under one umbrella, The Transportation Security Administration. This agency handles all security at all airports nationwide. "Today, the administration of US President George W. Bush is trying to minimize the effects of a potential terrorist incident by improving homeland defenses and consequence management, spending US$35 billion on homeland defense programs." (Wirtz 75). The shift from private to federal control of airport security has led to improvements in three significant areas of airport security--employee training, technology, and standardized procedures. The transfer of airport security from the privatized system to the government-controlled system has been a positive move that will be safe and effective.

In November 2001, President Bush signed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), which created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as the new federal government agency in charge of airport security. TSA has been effective in standardizing airport security in numerous ways. The TSA enhanced security by the regulating screening and bag checks, along with more thorough passenger and employee background checks. Another benefit to TSA control is that it has defined, standardized, and controlled regulations, procedures, requirements, and specialized training. Prior to TSA's control, policies and procedures were neither controlled nor regulated, let alone standardized across the country. Government agencies now share vital information about passengers and employees with airlines and airports. This includes crosschecks with the FBI and other watch lists. Availability of background checks for aviation employees is currently under way. The Transportation Department performs criminal background checks for some 750,000-airport employees.

TSA demands the same high standard of all airports, large and small. The new law requires inspections of all checked baggage with the use of X-rays, hand searches, sniffer-dogs, as well as, other technological systems already mentioned. By the end of 2002, the law mandated that explosives detection machines installed in several airports all over the country inspect all checked bags. Prior to the new law, less than 10 percent of checked bags were inspected for bombs. Since its enactment, the law requires uniformed federal workers with the proper license conduct all screening operations. Airlines are responsible for matching checked luggage with passengers on connecting flights. Currently under federal law, all checked bags must be screened for explosives. Baggage will not be loaded on a plane unless the passenger also boards. If a passenger changes planes, the airline is not required to check baggage if the traveler boards the second flight before loading baggage.

Currently additional proposals being considered to airport security regulations are as follows: air cargo inspections, background checks on foreign flight school students, and a six-month ban on small planes flying over stadiums. More manpower has been added to airport security forces. About 32,000 security screeners have been hired to train on new equipment and federal procedures. They are tested and trained consistently across the country. In effect are standardized-specialized training and procedures by which there are no exceptions. Everyone must comply or not fly.

Even though all investigations have concluded that ineffective screening did not play a role in the September 11 attacks, recent studies have revealed a significant amount of vulnerability where screening is concerned. "Many in Congress were unimpressed with the airlines' minimum-wage-earning screeners and considered the system vulnerable because of high turnover and limited training," (Crawley 1). The TSA seeks specifically to oversee the revamping of the entire screening system, focusing its improvements on better training and higher job satisfaction, in hopes that those in the position of screeners will be more dedicated to what they do.

In order to accomplish its goal of total airport security, the TSA has put into action several major changes. First and most important is the employees themselves. Before federal control, the quality of training and employees was in question. Massachusetts state police superintendent barred Argenbright Security, the nation's largest airport security firm, from working in the state because it had hired workers with felony convictions and probation violations and was responsible for security lapses at Boston's Logan International Airport. Incidentally, Argenbright staffed security checkpoints at Newark and Washington Dulles airports, the departure point of two of the airplanes hijacked on September 11. The company lost its Boston contract after September 11 security lapses. Whether or not the company was responsible for the attacks on September 11, its practice of employing convicted criminals was certainly enough to bring it under scrutiny. Under the new guidelines established by the TSA, all employees responsible for security will undergo a thorough background check, including checks for previous criminal activity.

Other requirements recently set in place for airport screeners include being a US citizen, passing drug tests, and passing a Federal Civil Aviation Security Screener Test, which should ensure the employee's ability to function effectively as a screener. In addition to these new selection requirements, all employees must undergo a far more intensive training program than was previously necessary. Screeners are now required to engage in 40 hours of classroom training, and 60 hours of on-the-job training. To ensure that new employees will remain dedicated to their task of keeping America's airports secure the TSA has placed emphasis on "training, professionalism, and potential career advancement" (Crawly 2). The new federally