I don’t think I can stand another news story on “beefed up” airport security.
Playing in airports around the country since Sept. 11 are fabulous stage productions – part mystery, part thriller, part action – but mostly comedy. The airlines (who, unbeknownst to many are the ones responsible for airport security) know it’s necessary to create the illusion of greater safety. So they put on fabulous shows consisting of a wide variety of scenes – from invasive but ineffective and unnecessary body searches to the dramatic discarding of deadly nail files. Ticket sales rise to the thunder of applause from a star-struck American audience.
Please don’t let them fool you – the issue is much too important to be taken
in by an elaborate ruse.
Since I fly fairly often, I have the “opportunity” to play “bit parts” in the great charade at airports around the country. With more than 2 million different people reading WorldNetDaily.com each month, I consider it a public duty to report my experiences, the goal being to maybe in some small way, help affect change for the better.
Last week, as I was headed to Los Angeles via Dulles to tape “Politically Incorrect,” I, like every single other passenger, found myself with a lot of time on my hands in the airport after checking in. So, I picked a quiet corner to sit in and positioned myself at an angle where I could easily glance up from my book from time-to-time and take a quick look at my gate, just in case I missed the boarding call.
During one of these half-focused glances, I saw that people were indeed boarding the plane. As I stood up, a short, roundish but pleasant airport “security” agent seemed to appear out of nowhere by my side.
This cheery woman was holding something akin to a fairy’s magic wand (she was so warm and friendly she easily could have been mistaken for a fairy godmother had she been wearing something other than the masculine dark-blue uniform). Her magic wand, of course, was a metal detector. We exchanged warm, pleasant smiles as I put away my book. Then, I asked as I motioned toward the gate, “Is this the flight going to Dulles?”
“Oh, yes!” She answered, a little too excitedly. “Are you on this flight?”
“Yes,” I smiled and said as I stooped over to grab my purse.
“Oh, then, would you mind if I checked you?” she asked as she waved her wand. “I’m supposed to do this to every fourth or fifth passenger, and you seem so nice, I was wondering if I could start with you?”
“OK,” I said. “So you just check about one in four getting on the plane?”
She answered that sometimes the gate agent will bring her a randomly selected list of names from the computer. “But since he’s over there, ” she pointed about 20 feet away, “and you’re right here and are so nice I just thought it would be easier to go ahead and do you.”
See what I mean? While the headlines talk about the larger number of security agents, more thorough screening methods and even the deployment of the national guard at the checkpoints, real measures to make air travel safer have not been taken. Yes, there are more people playing the role of security agent than before Sept. 11, but many of them don’t speak English too well, are untrained in real screening techniques, and haven’t been through a basic background check of their own past. Some aren’t even U.S. citizens.
The U.S. Congress is now considering several bills to increase airport security. While there are good points in almost every proposal, one problem seems to persist: They still entrust far too many security areas to the airlines. Why is this bad? For two reasons: 1) the tremendous power of the airline lobby and 2) the fact that airline executives will always be faced with the conflicting pressures of increasing shareholder value and containing costs.
One of the obvious first-step measures that must be taken is to stop making the “checkpoints”
the last line of defense. For far too long – and now more than ever – these checkpoints are places where honest American citizens are hassled and all
possible defensive “weapons” like nail clippers are confiscated. I’m sorry, but having an armed guard watch a “security agent” run her magic wand over little old ladies doesn’t make us any safer, folks. It’s time to put security on the planes themselves.
Billie Vincent, the former director, FAA Office of Civil Aviation Security and
now CEO of Aerospace Services International Inc. describes the broad, bold measures we need to institute as “aviation security” versus the commonly used term of “airport security.” It’s time to stop messing around and change the way we think. And in my book, the No. 1 safety measure we can and should take immediately is to arm our pilots.
Until I met Vincent through that great American, Gary Aldrich, who seeks to give a voice to government workers who dare discuss corruption in high places, I merely thought arming pilots was a good idea – now I know it is.
“Airline pilots are among the most intelligent and carefully screened group of individuals in the country,” said Vincent. “Over half of them are either former military officers or are currently in the military reserves. We place them in the most sophisticated cockpits in the world, and place our trust in their hands every day for the safety of their passengers. These fine people should be armed. They, unlike air marshals, also know flying conditions and the various cabin pressure situations.”
Vincent also points out an obvious, but strangely missed irony: “Our
government has now approved the deployment of military jets to shoot down
hijacked planes filled with passengers, but still has not given the pilots
guns to prevent the shoot down.”
It seems that most Americans understand this irony. A new national survey commissioned by the Allied Pilots Association and United Seniors Association and conducted by The Winston Group, reveals “75 percent of Americans favor arming airline pilots.”
Arm the pilots, equip the planes with CCTV cameras enclosed in the same
virtually nondestructible materials as the “black boxes,” and fortify
cockpit bulkheads and doors with ballistics materials, and aviation safety
will dramatically increase.
Add to that meaningful screenings of passengers at checkpoints before they
enter the plane and we will all fly safer. Some of the measures Vincent recommends include, “Stringent employment standards for security personnel including U.S.
citizenship, physical and mental exams, criminal history background
checks, clearances to at least the Secret level, superior training and
certification in all screening functions, career progression, and immediate firing of those who don’t perform.”
The show must not go on – it’s time to drop the curtain on the big charade. The American audience deserves better performance in aviation security.
