Airport Security
Before September 11 Attacks
Airport security was never a big issue before the 9/11 attacks. There were no full body scanners, no bag checks, and much less limitations were placed on what items could be brought on the plane. Family and friends could even go with travelers up to the gate without a boarding pass. Prior to 9/11, limited federal security requirements existed for cargo and baggage screening.
"In August 2001, U.S. airlines carried 63.8 million passengers and employed more than 520,000 workers, but the 9/11 terrorist attacks had an immediate and profound effect on the industry." |
"Preceding the September 11 attacks, airport security was shared between airport authorities and commercial airlines. Security screening focused on searching for handguns and bombs (following the suitcase bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988). The Aviation Security Improvement Act of 1990 and the recommendations of the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security (1996) were either ineffective or not implemented. Aviation security was secondary to concerns about economic efficiency, and there was a strong resistance to spending money to improve security. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was focused on congestion and delays in civil aviation, and Congress was attempting to reduce flight delays by requiring the airlines to provide passengers with better information and to improve baggage handling. In 1999, a Fox News survey showed that 78 percent of respondents saw poor maintenance of airplanes as a greater threat to airline safety than terrorism. "
Marcia B. Dinneen
After September 11 Attacks
"The number of passengers was nearly halved in September 2001, to 34.9 million. The federal government quickly intervened. The Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, signed into law Sept. 22, 2001, gave airlines $5 billion in immediate assistance and $10 billion in loan guarantees to prop up the industry." |
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Aviation and Transportation Security Act
The Aviation and Transportation Security Act was enacted following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The act introduced new security procedures and established the Transportation Security Administration which was supposed to amend the lax security and assess policies for all transportation The act made the government responsible for airport security.
The act introduced new security procedures and established the Transportation Security Administration which was supposed to amend the lax security and assess policies for all transportation The act made the government responsible for airport security.
Aviation and Transportation Security Act | |
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Transportation Security Administration
After the establishment of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) through the Aviation and Transportation Security Act in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, airport security was heightened to an unprecedented level. Strict guidelines were enforced on portable liquids, and "going through security" became a time consuming process. The TSA has over 50,000 employees, and has a current budget of nearly $8 billion. While most of this money comes from the government, $2 billion comes from a special tax imposed on travelers, which is a new form of taxation that was nonexistent before the 9/11 attacks.
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Every single carry-on item must be screened, shoes have to be removed, outer clothing has to be scanned, and all the while the airport security budget rises. Before the 9/11 attacks, federal involvement in airport security was at a minimum, but within 10 years of 9/11, there were thousands of federal employees specifically for airport security, such as flight deck officers and air marshals.
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Layered Security, New Technology
The TSA has created a "layered security" approach in order to introduce more and more checkpoints.
"Each one of these layers alone is capable of stopping a terrorist attack. In combination their security value is multiplied, creating a much stronger, formidable system. A terrorist who has to overcome multiple security layers in order to carry out an attack is more likely to be pre-empted, deterred, or to fail during the attempt."
TSA
Secure Flights and New Technology
"As an additional layer of security, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Secure Flight program conducts passenger watch list matching for 100 percent of covered U.S. aircraft operator and foreign air carrier flights into, out of, and within the United States, as well as international point to point flights operated by covered domestic air carriers to identify any passengers who may pose a threat to aviation or national security and designate them for enhanced screening or, as appropriate, prohibit them from boarding an aircraft." |