Airport Security

Airport Security

From the 2001 September Airport attack, a lot of security measures have been put in place to altogether avert or reduce the recurrence of such issues in the future. As some of the measures might appear to be cost-ineffective in their implementation, firms consider this to ensure the actions taken are cost-efficient. The paper discusses how security in the airport has increased from the time the attack took place and the measures that can be put in place to reduce the operating cost directed towards the security docket.

One of the security measures put in place to curb further security breaches in the airport involves the screening of passengers and their luggage. In contrast, at the airport, prescreening is done on passengers by the Transport Security Administration. (TSA)A. The screening becomes deemed crucial since some passengers carry some dangerous weapons as luggage and, if not checked, can be used to attack others on board. Some passengers go to the extent of consuming explosives with ill motives of attacking others on board.

A policy has been enacted to compel airlines to submit names of the passengers to be on board to the TSA, they examine the names vis-à-vis the watch list. However, the process is deemed hectic and time-consuming; an objection became a raised civil liberties group to share information of the passengers to be on board. Additionally, watch lists were not maintained as required. In response to the raised concerns, the TSA came up with a Flight secure program.  A safe Flight Program is a pre-screening program that tries to ensure a balance between the security of the passengers and their rights (Sweet 2002). The program takes into consideration the rights of the rights of the passengers by not exposing their personal information on the poorly maintained watch list. The data is that every passenger is submitted to the TSA and stored in a highly secure database which cannot be accessed by third parties or unauthorized persons. The second response to the Civil liberties groups objections by TSA is a program referred to Registered Traveler, and the program enables flyers who are frequent to voluntarily offer biometric identifiers and background information like fingerprints to allow screening of their security. The plan was tried successfully in the United States in the year 2005; its implementation is on course and is yet to become fully implemented in due course.

The second thing that was put in place to curb security from what happened in 2001 September is the Identification checks. In the year 2001, the month of September, a group of hijackers with no proper identification were allowed entrance in a plane since they were on a domestic aircraft. They took advantage of the gap and lodged an attack on the people on board. After the incident, every passenger who is above the age of 18 became required to be a holder of a valid national identification card. The airport crews have to carefully check and verify the ID of any passenger and staff members every time to ensure the information on the ID is in tandem with the ones printed on the boarding pass. There are exceptional cases where a passenger might be allowed to fly without becoming in possession of a valid ID (Dillingham 2001). In such instances in which a passenger is allowed to travel without an ID, the individual becomes subject to careful screening of their carry-on-items and possessions to ensure they do not pose any security threat to other passengers on board. The Transport Security Administration lacks the full capacity to carry out background information checks at checkpoints on passengers. The susceptible sections of the airport, like the operational space and the airport ramps, cannot be accessed by the general public. In the United States, the sensitive areas are referred to as the Security Identification Display Area; only persons with specialized training become permitted to access. The European Union came up with a regulation that requires passengers boarding a plan to be the same persons who did check their luggage. It became done to ensure accountability in case the luggage is deemed to pose a security threat to the people on board. In a nutshell, it makes tracing of people easy in case of any eventuality.

The third reason why I believe security has been boosted at the airport since the September 2001 airport attack is that improved security has become regularly witnessed since that incident.  Most aircrafts cockpit doors have become reinforced to reduce the chances of being broken into by hijackers. The doors are also made bulletproof to bar unauthorized person access. Passengers are not allowed to access the cockpit during the flight as a security measure. Some aircraft have become equipped with CCTV cameras to enable the pilot to monitor the cabin’s activity. The CCTV also makes it easy for tracing of any fraudulent activity that might take place while passengers are on board. The cameras have significantly reduced security threat issues since hijackers fear that their identities can highly be traced. Currently, Pilots are allowed to equip themselves with firearms. However, they are first trained on how to use it, and they are required to have a license for the gun. IN the United States of America, a large number of air marshals have become employed to beef up the level of security during flights.

One of the measures that can be employed to reduce security costs in airports is through the installation of enough CCTV cameras at strategic points. With enough CCTV cameras placed at suitable locations, the demand for air marshals shall reduce to a great deal. The work to be done by the air marshals shall become done by the CCTV. Therefore the company will save on the salary they would pay the Marshalls (Amis 2008). The management can implement it by incorporating it into their policies. The second method which can become employed to reduce security cost in airport security is through the use of automated machines. Instead of the Transport Security Administration having to establish several security desks with a lot of people operating, the cost can become reduced by installing automated machines that can automatically do the screening process and any other security-related issue. If that is done, the firm would be able to save the cash they would have used to pay in terms of salaries.

In conclusion, security is very vital in every institution. A system should be set up in a way that is not susceptible to attack by any unauthorized person. It will assist in protecting the image of the firm hence the right profit margin. Good security also ensures ensuring tracking of fraudsters as evidence can easily become obtained in a well-secured environment. Airports managements should all devise security mechanisms which cannot be breached in any way by a third party

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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References

Amis, M. (2008). The second plane: September 11: terror and boredom. New York: Alfred A. Knopf

Dillingham, G. L. (2001). Aviation security: Weaknesses in airport security and options for assigning screening responsibilities. Washington, D.C.: U.S. General Accounting Office.

Sweet, K. M. (2002). Terrorism and airport security. Lewiston, N.Y: Edwin Mellen Press.