My wife and I recently flew from Denver to Tampa for a wedding, and found the changes we've been hearing about to be both better and worse than we've heard. After the trip, I've come to the conclusion that most of the "security" measures aren't so much there to make us more secure, as they are to make us think that we're more secure.
We arrived at Denver International Airport, where I used to work, at 4:15 am for our 6:15 am flight from Denver to St. Louis. Check in was relatively quick and easy, with the normal questions about other people giving us things to carry on the plane, and packing our bags. Our IDs were used to check for our E-tickets. Although we had been told that we'd have to have an itinerary with ticket numbers to check bags, and get boarding passes, we were told they were unnecessary. So much for extra precautions here.
After check-in, we headed down to the main terminal for screening. When we came off the escalator, we followed the signs to the only obvious screening area which was closed, despite the signs that said it was open. We, and a dozen other passengers, went off in search of the "other" screening area.
We got in line behind a family with a toddler and a stroller. Always a bad idea, but I wasn't paying attention. Mom and the toddler got through ok, and so did the stroller, which went through the X-ray scanner. Dad got delayed for either his bag, or something in a pocket. We waited while he was cleared. It took all of 3 minutes.
There are two new procedures at screening (at least at DIA): First, you have to present a tickt or boarding pass to go through. This is ostensibly to keep the lines at screening down, and to reduce the likelihood that someone will get to a secure area that isn't supposed to be there. Of course, to here the FAA tell it, this is still frighteningly easy. The most recent FAA audits (all post-Sept. 11) show that 30% of firearms, 70% of knives, and 60% of "simulated" explosives still get through. And that doesn't even mention the agents that got onto the tarmac or onto aircraft without ID.
The second new item, is that the screener watching the magnetic detector you walk through, bodily blocks access through it until the person in front of you (and the items they stuck on the conveyor) are cleared through. If somebody has problems, it holds up the whole line. Still, it took less than 10 minutes to get through. Of course, at 4:30 am on Thursday, there aren't that many people at the airport.
I had an HP Palmtop computer in my bag, as well as a cellphone. When I worked at DIA, all phones, pagers, radios, etc got turned on. Most computers got the same treatment. Not this time. No one said a word. So much for more stringent guidelines.
We headed out to our gate, and sat around until they started boarding the plane. This is where the fun begins. One of the new requirements is that the airlines have to perform "secondary" screening on passengers boarding the plane. This is supposed to be random. It's quite amusing to watch, even if you get pulled for it yourself. The quality of the search seems to vary greatly on airport and screener.
At DIA, they screeners pulled out some middle-aged women, and white men in business attire. The last person the grabbed was a slightly swarthy guy traveling with his wife. It almost seemed like all of the other selections had been made to show that he was randomly selected.
In St. Louis, we sat around, had a sandwich, and did the whole thing again. This time I got picked to be re-screened. The screener was a nice guy who seemed to be embarrased to be screening me. First, I had to drink out of both of the drinks I had in the side pockets of my backpack (coke and gatorade, yummy). Then he went through my bag, and made me turn on the cellphone and PDA, flipped through our books and magazines, and helped me re-pack it. Then he "wanded" me and my shoes, and checked my ticket and ID.
Coincidentally, I ended up in line with my wife again, just as she was giving her ticket and ID to the gate agent.
Coming back was almost comical. We got to Tampa International Airport on Tuesday morning about 8:00. It took longer to check our bags. There were more people, but it was basicall the same deal as in Denver. There was a Jamaican woman arguing about the extra fees for checking more than two bags, and stalked off leaving one of them at the counter. No one said a peep about the abandoned item. Definitely a security problem. She came back for it after a few moments, but still. These days, they're supposed to cart that stuff off and check it out, poste haste.
Screening was easier in Tampa than Denver. TIA is designed sort of like a spoke, with monorails out to the different concourses. As you walk up to the train, you show your ticket and ID to a guard. After you get on the train, you go through screening. Again, no turning on of anything, but my wife triggered something, so they sent her shoes through the X-ray machine. At our gate, we both were selected "randomly" for screening. We were the first one's picked by the Tampa Police officer, mostly because we were sitting near their little screening area. Again, nothing got turned on, and this time, they didn't check shoes or make me drink any of my water. Strange.
The point is, there's more hassle, but no more safety. There also seems to be a strange suspension of the 4th Amendment at airports, more now than ever. I fail to see how the cursory searching and re-searching, treating passengers even more like cattle, and deciding that because we wan't to get on an airplane we're automatically giving up our rights helps. None of this would have prevented the Sept. 11 attacks because the items used were legal at the time.
We'd be a lot better off with the right technology (explosives detection, etc...) and Air Marshals on planes that real people fly, not just Congressmen and other VIPs. Improved technolgy is something that needs to be carefully evaluated, though, and not just for its utility. Among the new items soon to be appearing at airports (and one reason that I will never fly into Orlando again) is a system that can look under your clothes. We aren;t talking magnetic detection, we're talking low powered X-rays that show the screener everything down to the skin. I have no desire to parade around at airports in my skivvies, and I'm sure I don't want tax dollars to go toward giving a security guard a free show.
Another system to be tested in Orlando analyzes air samples for explosives. It can also pick up evidence of illicit drug use with a minor adjustment. It works by blowing a puff of air at you, and then analyzing the particles that come off you. This means that if you go to firing range or a night club, you should wait awhile before going through the Orlando Airport.
But we were born free.
Posted by Chris at April 17, 2002 03:17 PM