Aviation Security and its Impact on Airports - Essay Example

 Aviation Security and its Impact on Airports Introduction Airport security has become a major issue within the past few years and with the advanced in technology today, we could make the security even better if the funding of the new technology for airports was not so low. After a couple major lapses in airport security it is definitely an issue that needs to be resolved. The most popular lapse of airport security is the tragedy on 9/11. With the implementation of better and more efficient security, knowing that passengers have the proper devices to take the plans over can prevent future tragedies. Another lapse of airport security was in Miami, Florida when a passenger claimed to have a bomb and was shot and killed by air marshals. This incident could have been prevented with the proper security. If the airport would have had proper technology security then could have been assured that the man did not have a bomb and claimed that he was mentally disturbed and it could have saved the air marshals from having to kill the man. The solutions to security issues currently proposed by the Transportation Security Administration are quite costly for the airlines. While the airlines are all in major debt and on the verge of bankruptcy there must be different security measures to implement or help by the government. The Transportation Security Administration wants to implement smart cards that will help with international travelers and the pilots’ fast track through security, these passengers would skip the routine customs questioning and instead use special kiosks to present their passports and have their identities confirmed. Another proposal is to get rid of pat downs; they are in the process of implementing explosives trace detection portals. These machines aim puffs of air at passengers to dislodge and sniff out explosive residue. The also have another machine called X-ray backscatter portals, which use X-rays to create an image of a passenger's body and reveal any concealed weapons. Digital Database Technology and Airport Security A database that links all airline reservation systems in the country to many private and government databases would allow security officials to sort through the travel histories of each flier and allow airport officials to see the backgrounds of all passengers before they board the flight. This will allow officials to prevent passengers suspected of terrorist activities from boarding the aircraft when they are believed to be a threat to the health of other passengers and the aircrafts. All passengers will have threat data related to them, with the most threatening passengers to be fully checked before boarding all aircrafts. During this process, when a passenger with a high threat rating books a ticket on a commercial airline, aviation officials will be able to screen these individuals prior to terrorist events occurring. A prescreened traveler is not necessarily a good idea, because identities can be concealed and changed to portray the picture of another individual that may not be considered a threat. Fingerprints can also be carefully maneuvered to appear as that of another individual. The approach we chose will gather intelligence information as well as prescreen individuals at they time of ticket purchase confirming they are who they claim to be and then will screen a threat risk assessment to detect those people that may post a terrorist threat to others. This approach will identify each passenger, with all privately, government, and airline held information and check that with information of the lists of threatened suspects and terrorists in order to weed out those individuals that pose a flight risk. Once the system has calculated a threat score, it will be secretly printed on the boarding pass or ticket for each passenger, without the passenger knowing what his or her risk is. The database, once fully implemented, will be used nationwide at all airports. This database will be on a network allowing access to airport employees and the necessary government agencies. All individuals must meet security requirements set by the Transportation Security Administration. In attempt to protect the integrity of the data a message authentication code will be used with this database. Airport Security Implications 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 also 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 new 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, 2002). 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. The earlier beliefs of the U.S. domestic aviation industry in a “Fortress America” could be justified to a point. There was ample intelligence available to warn of potential future catastrophes, but it was not acted upon. The traveling public in America was left unguarded. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act acknowledged the vulnerability of American airports. The new legislation called for significant changes. Staff performances at the interface between security personnel and the traveling public can, to an extent, be judged by passengers themselves. The general attitude of the screeners is easy to see. Personal presentation of the staff—that is, their appearance—is readily observable. Staff attentiveness is equally visible. Their technical ability is a covert asset or shortcoming, and this is something the new under secretary would do well to take on board. He must also note that not all people can be trained. Some may have inherent weaknesses that would prevent them from functioning properly in the role of a screener. If, for example, use is being made of color-enhanced x-ray machines to identify different types of metal or other material, there is little point engaging a color-blind person for this particular task. It does happen, though. Airlines have employed baggage handlers with an inability to differentiate colors when the baggage-sorting system was dependent upon the use of color-coded baggage tags. The potential efficiency of personnel should be considered at time of recruitment. Education to understand human behavior patterns and human psychology in general would be a valuable additional facet of the training process. These changes would move the Federal Aviation Administration several steps beyond the pre–Aviation and Transportation Security Act approach to recruitment and training. (Bayles, 2001) Most critics would say, not before time. Recent Steps taken by Government With the recent changes taking effect it puts a strain economically speaking on many different issues. The most severe one would obviously be that the airline industry is already dealing with an economic strain to dump more money into a project that could possibly fail, could and would hurt the entire economy. When we consider that airlines just will not be shut down as a whole because lets face the fact that we need to airline industry and the funds would have to be set in place to help them in a situation like this. This in turn would hurt everyone as a whole. Another big problem that is possible is security, and the clean up a security disaster is not always small. This type of a change would affect not only the industry of airlines, but the government and eventually the people, whether they are customers of these airlines or not. The most important of all would be the security and welfare of the people involved. There are hackers that are able to understand networks and are determined to understand the ins and outs of different networks. The security will be the most important thing to consider because this could eventually cause great disaster on many different people in many different ways. The disaster could range from physical, emotional; the most common of course are economical. A person's security and information could lead to many other disasters. The easiest way, if one wants to call it easy, is to carefully monitor the entire process and always keep a close eye on the whole production and workings of this particular project to avoid something of this magnitude to happen. Its not always an easy way to say that a close eye will be kept and it will put an almost close to perfect plan must be set in place. As far as the funding goes and how much the airlines are already getting to just survive, is something that must be looked at closely. The amount of money that is constantly being put in place to help many of these airlines has reached an astronomical amount and doesn't seem to be dropping. To set a database of this magnitude will take a sufficient amount of money. Money that seems to already be at a low, could eventually lead to an all time low, causing an even greater strain on the economy. One way to deal with it is that in establishing this database certain fees need to be set in place to not only secure the status of many of these elite travelers but to deal with the funding that will be set in place for the database. The truth is that it is hard to know what can happen, September 11, took everyone by storm and no one could have ever known that something like that could happen. 9/11 put no only a physical, mental, and economical strain but made many countries think about security and establishing a safer place for all, which is exactly what this database will do. Legal Element in a Practical Airport Security Operation By the end of 2002, the law mandates that all checked bags be inspected by explosives detection machines that are currently being installed in several airports all over the country. Prior to the new law, less than 10 percent of checked bags were inspected for bombs. Since its enactment, the law requires all screening operations to be handled by a uniformed, federal worker with the proper license. Airlines will be 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 in the process of negotiations, additional proposals 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 man power 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. (Bonvilliam, 2002) 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," (Bonvilliam, 2002). 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 Transportation Security Administration (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 close scrutiny. Under the new guidelines established by the TSA, all employees responsible for security will undergo 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 these 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," (Morrison, 2001) The new federally employed screeners, one third of which are veterans and another 15 percent selected from private agencies, are also motivated by the increase in pay. They will be making between 25,000 and 35,000 a year, a considerably jump from their previous minimum wage salary (Morrison, 2001) The idea behind both of these strategies is that an employee who has gone through rigorous testing and training and is being offered an increase in pay and benefits will realize the investment being made in them as a screener and become dedicated to their work. If these screeners can be motivated to care about what they're doing, it seems reasonable that they will do it better, thus increasing their effectiveness as security screeners, and by doing so greatly improving the overall security of each American airport. In addition to training for screeners, airport security may increase substantially through the intensity of training federal agents. One way to improve intelligence is by improving our means of collecting data. Bettering human intelligence means bettering the quality and requirements of federal agents. "Increasing useful human intelligence, which everyone agrees is the most critical ingredient for rooting out secretive terrorist groups, is not done easily or through quick infusions of money" (Betts, 2002). So, with an increase in budget, it becomes easier to acquire information, increase the quality of training, and increase the odds that bits and pieces of critical information will be obtained without falling through the cracks, and going unnoticed. Lastly, a top priority in airport security has been to maximize the benefits of technology to enhance airport security. The Homeland Security bill was formed for this very purpose. The bill created a cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security which combines 22 federal agencies with an estimated budget of $37.4 billion that includes $2.12 billion for Informational Technology. (Poole, 2001) A few of the major agencies joined in the Department of Homeland Defense include the Secret Service, The Coast Guard, the Customs Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Immigration and Nationalization Service. This new law requires the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to consider the deployment of technologies. It also calls for the Defense department's reevaluation of classified technologies for use in airport security. In addition, it encourages partnerships between government and the private sector to better protect civilian infrastructures. President Bush has called the legislation "the single most important business". The aim of the bill is not to build a new bureaucracy, but to find technology leaders who can deploy existing lab resources quickly and flexibly. In the past explosives in the form of luggage have been given to passengers from somebody for whom they did know. An example is in 1986 a young Irish woman by the name of Anne Murphy was given a bag to carry on an airplane from her boyfriend containing 3 pounds of plastic explosives. The point is explosives can be given by a stranger or your best friend. Another measure which is being looked at in Congress right now is to train pilots as federal agents. Pilots will then be permitted to carry a weapon on board. This would give pilots protection from intruders and be a deterrent to any hijacker entering the cockpit. Judy Keen explains how one type of weapon that might be used would be the stun gun which is used by over 900 police and correctional facilities. The stun gun shoots two darts at 50,000 volts at which would paralyze an intruder for 15 minutes and has a range of 21 feet. The stun guns is easy to use, the training to use a stun gun is minimal and once learned is a very effective defense. Another idea is to arm undercover marshals on board with duck-hunting bullets. Alan Levin explains the reason for using duck-hunting bullets is they shatter on impact and won't pierce an airplanes hull if fired while creating the same amount of damage to the opposition. Another innovation is the use of the internet to watch the cockpit from the ground. Cockpits then could be monitored safely and effectively. Conclusion Airports considered to be at high risk will necessarily have to massage the model program to meet their own needs. Airport design will affect the implementation of any security plan. Geographical locations and physical environments will dictate aspects of any program. Municipal, national, and federal policing arrangements will have an influence on an airport’s security defenses. National and international politics will affect the level of threat posed to operations at any given airport or to any given airline. This threat has to be assessed and a program put in place to control the risk. For this reason, an airport management cannot simply take a security proforma and adopt it as its own. It has to be worked upon, preferably in a collaborative effort by the airport management, the airlines using the facility, and the local, national, and federal security services. Obviously, the tragedy of September 11 will be forever imbedded in our minds. It has affected so many lives in so many ways. Within just a little over a year, drastic changes have been made in government policies because security reform has been a main concern not only within our national airports, but across the board--Homeland Security, yet Americans continue to take part in the normal everyday transactions of their lives. As with all new things, a new airport security system will take time to develop and get used to. In the beginning, it will not always be agreeable, and trouble free, but ultimately, the hassles of adapting to the new system will fade out, and the pay off to government control of the airport security will be peace of mind, and confidence in air travel. Effective and appropriate equipment is a vital part of the security mix. An x-ray is of little value if it cannot do the job for which it is intended. Times have changed. Hi-tech machines are providing part of the answer. In Europe, the Far East, and elsewhere heavy capital investment has brought such technology into the security equation. But despite the two Presidential Commissions and other acts before the passing of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, no appropriate investment was made in the United States. Even congressional directives to the Federal Aviation Administration had failed to move forward the standards of airport security. As a check on the efficiency of the x-ray machines and their operators, a minimum number of bags should be selected at random for hand searching. Random selection has the benefit of preventing observers from identifying search patterns. Some bags will be chosen for physical examination because their owners fit profile specifications developed by the authorities. In any event, a proportion of all bags will have to be opened before a qualified screener can be satisfied that the contents do not pose a threat. This procedure can act as a deterrent to those individuals who think they might be able to beat the x-ray system. They will not be so sure about the physical search process. Such physical searching requires space and, ideally, privacy. Few passengers are terrorists, and they should not be treated as such. They should not be embarrassed during a security procedure. Other equipment questions demand attention. Passenger screening requires the use of magnetometers or electronic hand wands to identify any metal object carried on the person. Both have to be calibrated. Frequent and even occasional flyers changing planes during their journey will have passed through such devices at one airport without tripping the buzzer only to be halted on the next occasion by an alarm. Passengers need not have anything different on their person. What is acceptable to one machine is not to the next. More practical applications of technology are concentrated in the enhancement of systems already employed by airports nationwide. Plans to decrease passenger check-in time, while at the same time conduct thorough security searches, include the development of faster baggage-screening devices with improved imaging. Various other security equipment are available for use. X-ray baggage inspection systems can screen check-in and hand luggage for weapons and explosives. Security access control can make areas inaccessible for unauthorized people. Security cameras monitor passengers and their luggage. Security cameras have also been known to spot fuel leaks from planes. These technologies mean that baggage will always be accounted for. Furthermore, people can be screened for traces of narcotics or explosives without the machine coming into contact with them. References Bayles, Fred. "New Safety Procedures Likely Add Costs To Flying." USA Today 18 Oct. 2001, B-1. Betts, Richard K. "Fixing Intelligence" Foreign Affairs 81:1 (2002) 43-60. Bonvilliam, William B., Sharp, Kendra V. "Homeland Security Technology." Issues in Science & Technology 18:2 (2002) 43-49. Iwata, Edward. "Call For Safer Skies Inspires Innovation." USA Today 9 Oct. 2001, D-2. Morrison, Blake (A). "How Safe Are Our Airports." USA Today 31 Oct. 2001, A-4. Poole Jr., Robert W. "Make Airports Responsible." USA Today 9 Oct. 2001, A-4. Wirtz, James J. "Déjà Vu? Comparing Pearl Harbor and September 11." Harvard International Review 24.3 (2002): 73-77.          Read More