Free Essay

Airport Security

In:

Submitted By Maeba
Words 1479
Pages 6
Airport Security

Name:

Institution:

Airport Security
Introduction
Since time immemorial, air travel has been deemed to be the safest mode of transport. Millions of people have safely travelled by air, reaching their destinations safely. Despite this fact, the aviation industry is faced with many security concerns. Since the infamous September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in the United States, there have been concerns that there are loopholes in aviation security. Terrorist activities target airports and civil aviation equipment due to their high values. For instance, in 1985, there was a massacre in Vienna and Rome that was carried out by terrorists in an airport. In addition, there have been reports of aircraft hijacking for a long time in history. These concerns have made the public to feel insecure in air travel. Currently, many countries are overhauling their security systems in airports, so as to counter any security threats. This is an important step towards ensuring that our airports remain secure and regain public trust (Blalock, Kadiyali, & Simon, 2007).
Importance of Airport Security
Over time, the number of passengers travelling by air has been on the increase. Most of the airports record thousands of passengers every single day. Similarly, there has been expansion of airports and the number of aircrafts, necessitated by the increase in the number of passengers. These passengers need to be safe from any terrorist attack or any hazard that may come up in the airport, such as fire break out. In addition, the airport’s assets need to be protected from possible threats. As noted earlier, aviation assets are of high value, therefore, the need to be secured. Airports are installed with modern and sophisticated equipment. Such equipment is worth billions of dollars. Terrorists are attracted to such high value targets available in the airports. Destruction of such equipment will lead to high losses.
Terrorists can hijack a plane and use it to instill fear. They can hide explosives into the plane through luggage that is not properly scrutinized. This way, they can cause deaths of many innocent civilians. This is the reason why airports should put in place stringent measures to ensure that security in the airport is not compromised. Due to the fact that planes carry hundreds of people, a breach in security puts them at risk.
In addition to terrorist activities at the airports, there are issues to do with regular criminal activities. Passengers carry possessions, some of which are very valuable. During their travel, some passengers may have the motive to steal others’ possessions. This leads to increased possibilities of burglary and robbery. Similarly, there are issues of drug trafficking. This is where airport security comes in handy: to eliminate such security concerns (Blalock, Kadiyali, & Simon, 2007).
Responsibilities of Airport Management in Airport Security
Airport security begins with the management of the airport. The management team plays a pertinent role in ensuring that there is safety at the airport at all times. The management is responsible in working closely with the state and federal government. The states and federal governments have aviation committees. Such committees play a role in creating rules and regulations that are meant to ensure the security of the aviation industry. This way the management is in a position to comply with the regulations that are stipulated in the industry. The airport management has to ensure that necessary actions are taken to ensure that the airport is secure. At times, they need to work closely with the employees in the airport. This way they can discover any loopholes in the security system of the airport.
The management, also, works in a close relationship with the shuttle services and airlines. They do so in the quest to ensure that airlines and shuttle services adhere to the security protocols specified by the management of the airport. Management comes up with policies and regulations that govern the operations of such service providers in the aviation industry. Through such policies, the security of the airport is monitored. Therefore, management is critical in the security of any airport (Weinberger, 2010).
Landside and Airside Security Procedures
Airports are divided into two: landside and air side. The landside portion consists of: public railway stations, access roads, and parking lots. The airside portion includes areas accessible to the plane such as taxiways, runways, and ramps. Accessibility to the landside and airside in an airport is always under security personnel. Accessing the airside of the airport one needs to pass through security and passport control. This is applicable to all people, including staff of the airport.
Equipment Used for Security Checks
Airports use much equipment that is meant to ensure that there is high scrutiny of all people entering the airports and planes. Such machines and equipment are meant to safeguard various people from possible harm. The equipment used for the purpose of ensuring airport security is considered to be complex. Without such sophisticated technology in the aviation industry, air travel would be an insecure venture. These machines are used in screening of passengers before they enter the terminal of the airport, to detect any possible harmful objects. Such equipment includes:
Backscatter X-Rays
X-rays are commonly used in airports to detect weapons. The backscatter X-ray radiates an object, producing an image of the object. The security personnel in the airport are, therefore, in a position to see what an individual is carrying. This has become one of the most common equipment used in the aviation industry. The machine has been helpful in apprehending dangerous items such as hidden liquids, weapons, narcotics, and illegal currency from passengers travelling in planes. There are people who are against this machine, since it produces images of the naked body of an individual.
Fiber Optic Perimeter Intrusion Detection Systems
To deal with scenarios where objects that are dangerous or harmful are found, many airports are using a system of protocols that is integrated to send a notification to the relevant authorities. The Intrusion Detection Systems help security personnel in an airport to give a quick response to a situation that is organized professionally. By use of certain procedures the detection system locates the possible threat and deals with it. The system can also notify other airports of the looming threat (Weinberger, 2010).
Ways to Improve and Make Safe Security Procedures For Airports
The security procedures in airports need an overhaul from time to time to ensure that they are in a position to deal with any possible security threat. It is not true that passengers and their luggage are the only source of threat in the aviation industry. Threats can emanate from the operations of the airport itself and the plane it serves: maintenance, catering, ticketing, cleaning, air traffic control, luggage handling, food service, parking, and much more. For instance in 1985, the cleaning crew hid guns in the washrooms of a plane that were later used in the hijacking of the plane. This means that, despite the stringent levels of screening that is done to passengers and their luggage, there may still be other sources of insecurity that may crop up.
To improve airport security, there is need to have security systems that are flexible to cater for security breaches in a timely and appropriate manner. The airport should have in place security teams that are motivated and that have the appropriate skills to perform their duties, while encouraging continuous performance measurement and feedback. The personnel should be equipped with modern procedures and technologies that can be in a position to respond adequately to any looming threat. In addition, there should be intelligence that is shared on a timely basis. This way, the security team can be in a position to detect and take necessary action to avert any possible threat (Gkritza, Niemeier, & Mannering, 2006).
Conclusion
Security in airports is a critical issue. It requires cooperation among all stakeholders, ranging from passengers, staff, to the government agencies that are responsible in regulating the operations of the aviation industry. In addition, the managers of an airport play an important role in linking the other players in the industry towards attainment of the objective of ensuring safety in the airports. They acquire necessary equipment and personnel responsible for maintaining the security of the airport. By maintaining safe airports and aviation as a whole, the public’s trust in air transport will be restored. The current plane hijackings and bombings are not good news to passengers.
References
Blalock, G., Kadiyali, V., & Simon, D. H. (2007). The Impact of Post‐9/11 Airport Security Measures on the Demand for Air Travel. Journal of Law and Economics, 50(4), 731-755.
Gkritza, K., Niemeier, D., & Mannering, F. (2006). Airport security screening and changing passenger satisfaction: An exploratory assessment. Journal of Air Transport Management, 12(5), 213-219.
Weinberger, S. (2010). Airport security: intent to deceive?. Nature, 465(7297), 412-415.

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Airport Security

...Airport Security 1. The text, Spread Your Legs and Smile, is about a frequent flier who has been working for the United Nations for the past 20 years. This flier has experienced the dramatic changes of security checks. Since 9/11 the airport security has become so strict with the routine of taking off ones shoes, putting them though the screening device and then lacing them up again. Not to mention the added insult of frisking and the bleeping wand that is shoved into one’s private places. If you do not do this with a smile on your face or if you complain, expect the worst. Today, the increase of airport security has resulted in a larger number of secondary screenings as well as a screening of a more diverse selection of travellers in order to apprehend terrorist. In one instance, a mother, who was feeding her baby breast milk in a bottle, had to drink it to prove it was not a lethal toxin. Even a handicapped boy who needed to fly with an oxygen tank had to justify to security that it was not a deadly poison gas he was breathing. 2. In the text, Spread Your Legs and Smile, the attitude toward U.S airport security is very negative. Many believe airport security has become too extreme. The author of this article, Shashi Tharoor, feels that security has gone from pleasant experience to an embarrassing nightmare involving the exposure of intimate items. Tharoor raises the question: could the proliferated pilferage among the frequent-flier circuit be linked to the regulation...

Words: 809 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Airport Security

...Running Head: AIRPORT SECURITY Airport security Airport security Аіrport sеcurіty іs а fаctor thаt іs usеd to protеct us from hіjаckіngs, bombіngs, аnd аnythіng thаt wіll hаrm pеoplе flyіng through thе frіеndly skіеs. Sіncе thе bombіng of Sеptеmbеr 11, аіrport sеcurіty hаs bееn аbout tеn tіmеs tіghtеr thаn usuаl, bеcаusе thеy fаіlеd іn lеttіng thе tеrrorіsts gеt on thе plаnе wіth thеіr knіvеs. (Pаttеrson, Gаmmе, 2008) Thіs trаgеdy hаs forcеd thе country to іts brіm to fіgurе out how wе cаn tіghtеn sеcurіty аt аіrports, how wе cаn аfford іt, аnd how аіrlіnеs аnd аіrports аrе goіng to survіvе. Еvеn yеаrs bеforе thе аttаcks wе hаvе bееn tryіng to sеcurе our аіrports. Іn 1996, Prеsіdеnt Clіnton sіgnеd thе FАА Rеаuthorіzаtіon Аct of 1996. Thе bіll gаvе $19 bіllіon to thе FАА to bе іnvеstеd іn sеcurіty. Thіs movе wаs motіvаtеd by thе crаsh of TWА Flіght 800. Bіll Clіnton stаtеd "Іt wіll cаrry forwаrd our fіght аgаіnst tеrrorіsm"?. Thіs shows thаt wе hаvе bееn hаvіng somе problеms wіth our sеcurіty wаy bеforе Sеptеmbеr 11th, for Clіnton sаw somеthіng thаt nееdеd fіxіng. (Pаttеrson, Gаmmе, 2008) Thеrе аrе mаny gеnеrаl іssuеs wіth sеcurіty аt our аіrports bеforе thе аttаcks. For stаrtеrs, wе only focus on thе pаssеngеrs of thе flіghts, аnd not othеr аuthorіtіеs іn thе аіrport thаt hаvе аccеss to thе plаnеs. Аn аrtіclе іn thе Dаіly Polіcy Dіgеst sаys "Іt concеntrаtеs on pаssеngеrs аnd іgnorеs thе thousаnds of cаtеrеrs, clеаnеrs, rеfuеlеrs аnd othеrs wіth аccеss...

Words: 3675 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Airport Security

...Airport Security Abstract Through the history of aviation the significance of airport security has progressively increased. Since the catastrophic terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, many changes have taken place at airports to prevent such an attack from occurring again. The purpose of this paper is to: outline airport security procedures, discuss the different technologies involved with airport security, as well as examine the components of airport security. In addition I will also discuss the Transportation Security Administration’s role in our nation’s airport security.     Airport Security    Airport Security is an essential of life both in America and throughout the world. Without airport security our airports would not be able to function and terrorist attacks like those of September 11th, 2001, would be more common. Passengers would be afraid to fly in fear of such a terrorist attack happening again. The airline industry would lose more revenue from lost ticket sales. Then the airports themselves would lose money from the lack of passengers boarding through their gates. Finally this lack of security would trickle down to the entire economy not only in the communities surrounding the airport and aviation industry, but to the nation’s economy as well. To keep this economic failure associated with another terrorist attack from happening, our nation must take the appropriate measures to prevent it.      “Airport security procedures are designed to deter...

Words: 2747 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Essay On Airport Security

...comes to aviation. As a result of this the Department of Homeland Security created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) just 2 short months later. The TSA has implemented many rules and regulations when it comes to baggage or even food and beverages that can be brought onto an aircraft. These rules are to help prevent any further attacks or hijackings. II. Problem In the past 16 and a half years the TSA has drastically improved the types of security measures that are used in and around airports. Using technological advancements, the TSA can search every passengers’ baggage and put the passengers through metal detectors or the full body scanner. The problem with all of this is that when millions of people travel through airports daily these security points start to build long lines quickly. These long lines tend to lead to aggravated passengers and sometimes delayed or missed flights. Many airports want to move towards a contracted security company instead of using the government funded TSA as a means of reducing these wait...

Words: 726 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Airport Security

...Abstract This paper discusses Airport security throughout the world and in the U.S. The lack of security in the airports in the U.S. compared to other countries even after 9/11. The resources not being used for security and training; the different security sections that should be made developed for more thorough security checks before any passenger even steps foot onto the airplane. The airport should run their security like it was a military base where everything out of the ordinary is scrutinized with undercover security personnel asking suspicious passengers questions. Airport Security How many times have you, your family member or friend gone through security in a U.S. Airport? Is a metal detector really going to stop a terrorist from hi-jacking a plane? I have been to different Airports in the U.S. and to Hartsfield International Airport too many times. I have noticed one thing in all of these airports in the U.S., lack of security and the business like approach to it. After we all pass through the metal detectors, what other security measures are there, from preventing a person to get on a plane with bad intentions either smuggling something or passing through the metal detectors which, they don’t catch a terrorist with bad intentions. After the initial security metal detector check point, we are all free and on are way to the airplane. If the security guards at the metal detector check point, don’t catch the person with bad intentions the first time, who will? The...

Words: 1612 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Impact Of 9/11 On Airport Security

...Abstract The Great change has been taken place after the attack of Alkaid. Every think was so good in the airport like, if people wants to travel through airlines it was so easy for them. They can go and just fly up this situation was before 9/11 attack. But know it’s not so easy, if the people wants to travel in domestic they need to be in airport at least 2 hours before and if the people wants to travel international they need to be in airport at least three hours before in airport. The 9/11 incident as changed the entire security system of U.S.A not only the Airport. In this paper I would like to discuss how thinks changed and new implementations took place in many ways after the 9/11 attack. If new securities system as done by the U.S.A government post 9/11 attack like screening of passenger and baggage system and many more. Introduction...

Words: 1132 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Airport Security After 9/11

...can remember a time when airport security appropriated only a little more than twenty minutes. However, after September 11, 2001 that continues to significantly change. On the day known as 9/11, four commercial flights were hijacked by 19 terrorists from the group known as al-Qaeda. These planes were aimed toward major government buildings, including the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. Two of them succeeded in colliding with the World Trade Center and another crashed in the Pentagon. This brutal attack sent shock waves through the nation. Considering nineteen out of nineteen terrorists were able to effortlessly breach security, the attack displayed the ineptness of security for commercial...

Words: 872 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Airport Security

...flash of quasi-nudity if it meant a safe flight. Body scanners and pat-downs are supposed to make passengers feel safer by detecting potential threats that could bring down an airplane. More than nine years after the 9/11 attacks, it seems that airport security may have crossed the line. Grassroots groups are calling on people either not to fly or to protest by refusing to submit to those full body scans, the ones that show everything. Major airline pilot unions are urging their members to avoid body scans. They are worried about health risks associated because of repeated small doses of radiation along with intrusiveness and security officer behavior. The T.S.A. insists that the machines are safe. And you believe what the government tells you, don’t you? A quote from security guru Bruce Schneier, a plaintiff in the body scanner lawsuit, calls this “magical thinking… descend on what the terrorists did last time and we will all be safe, as if they won’t think of something else”. Which of course they do. As of November of 2010, there are 373 body scanners in 68 U.S. airports, and another 1000 scanners were in place by the end of 2011. In addition, another 5355 employees are to be hired at a cost of $219 million the first year. The T.S.A. uses two types of scanners, one zaps the passenger with a tiny amount of x-rays which stop at the skin, the...

Words: 1255 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Airport Security: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

...Tyus Franks Ms. Terry A.P Literature October 8, 2014 Airport Security Airport security is the name for techniques and methods used to protect staff, aircraft, and passengers from accidental or malicious harm, crime and other dangerous threats. People want to feel safe when they are traveling, so the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has many methods that they use to make sure that people who are traveling can actually be safe. The TSA works with other organizations so they can be successful as possible. “TSA uses a risk based strategy and works closely with transportation, law enforcement, and intelligence community’s to set the standard for excellence in transportation security” (tsa.org). They do not want to take any chances,...

Words: 2762 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Security Management in Noi Bai Airport

...I. Overview of Air Cargo Security Management 1. General Air Cargo Security Situation Today, aviation is one of the world’s most important business. The growth of the industry over the past decades has made it one of the biggest contributor to the expansion of global economy. Therefore, an emphasis on airline security is undoubtedly important. Logistics security is not only contingent on safe passage and avoidance of hazards, but also assurance that goods have not been tampered with and kept secure. There are several security threats such as Terrorism, Organised Crime and Cargo Theft, Hijacking and Piracy, Drug/human smuggling, Illegal weapons, Counterfeit goods, Illegal exports of licensed materials/technology For instance, transnational criminal organizations use the aviation system to transport contraband and, increasingly, people across the globe. Cocaine smugglers have used the FedEx air delivery system to transport their products across the United States, and narcotics smugglers from Guyana have used U.S Mail pouches to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine into the United States through JFK. Hijackings were the most popular tactic for many individuals. Between 1967 and 2004 there were nearly 1000 airline hijackings. It is estimated that approximately 85 percent were carried out for political purposes. The rest were conducted by terrorists. The international civil aviation regime began to respond to the menace, deploying the so-called X-ray machines, for example...

Words: 1339 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Stricter Airport Security After 9/11, 2001

...September 11, 2001 was a day that will forever be engrained into the fabric of not only the United States but also the whole world. Post 9/11 the question of stricter airport security became imperative to the world, we all wanted to stop this from ever happening again. As airports became stricter people started to question whether these new screening processes were protecting us or infringing on our privacy. According to Opposing View Points in Context, Security has not always been a priority for commercial aviation even though attacks on airplanes date as far back as 1933 that year a United Air lines plane exploded over Charleston, Indiana killing all seven passengers on board. No arrests have ever been made even after investigators came to...

Words: 984 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Airport Security

...Many years ago airport security was not even an issue. People felt secure and safe and rarely worried about being searched. As time went on, the prevealance of terrorism became an increasing issue. There began more acts of terrorism by threatening and holding hostages on board commercial planes. As these acts continued, the government as well as citizens became vulnerable and an airport safety procedure was implemented as a way to ensure the safety of the United States. The implemented procedures over the years included a check and scan of all carry on and checked baggage, body scans, hire government airport employees, and a strict list of carry-on items. This made travelers feel safer as it decreased the ability of terrorist to commit vicious acts of violence. Over the years, airport security has become more stringent and traveling now has become a huge inconvenience as well as a violation to the people’s civil rights. As a result of the 9/11 attack of the World Trade Center Buildings North and South, securities has rapidly increased procedures due to the many attempts of attacks made by terrorist. On December 22, 2001 a terrorist named Richard Reid hid an explosive in his shoe trying to detonate it, but fortunately he did not succeed (Elliott). After the incident, passengers were forced to walk through security after taking off their shoes/sneakers. On December 25, 2009 another terrorist named Umar Abdul Mutallab attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear...

Words: 325 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Airport Security After 9/11: A Case Study

...Before 9/11, airport security was not as tightly as controlled. It was only when the lives of nearly 3,000 people including 19 terrorist on September 11th that created a major worldwide change in the way that airport security should be perceived. Prior to 9/11, there were major problems in airport security that terrorist saw and took advantage of to enable them to successfully commit the terrorist attack. Despite all the changes to airport security since 9/11, airport security has been one of the key concerns for airport management ever since. Airliners are still a favourable target for terrorist and one effective way to stop terrorist is firstly from the measures implemented in airport security. The tragic events of 9/11 have certainly provided...

Words: 442 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Effectiveness of the Aircraft Movement Areas Security Screening Procedures of the Airport Police Department at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport

...hijacked airliners were flown to other targets, one of which was the Pentagon, the seat of America’s military might, while the fourth aircraft crashed in a Pennsylvania field, believed to have been due to its passengers fighting back to regain control. While these incidents are certainly not the latest terrorist attacks against civil aviation, these attacks are significant in the sense that its aftermath truly changed the course of history of many nations and radically changed the lifestyles of many peoples. The earliest recorded terrorist act was on September 9, 1949, when a bomb was placed and exploded in a Quebec Airways flight in Canada. Since that first recorded aviation security breach, security experts had been trying to be one step ahead of the terror groups in hardening aircraft and airport targets against all forms of terrorist attacks. However, on July 22, 1968, three gunmen from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), hijacked a passenger airliner of the Israeli airline El Al, on a flight from Rome to Tel-Aviv, and demanded the release of their comrades-in-arms who were imprisoned in Israel. While this may not be the first case of civilian aircraft seizure during that year, this operation was qualitatively different in its content and ultimate aim. It was the first time that an aircraft had been hijacked not out of criminal motivation or for personal reasons, but with the specific goal of politically pressuring an opponent and using the incident...

Words: 17180 - Pages: 69

Premium Essay

Securing the Skies: the Progress in Security Operation Administration of Airports in Developing Countries Post 9/11 Scenario

...The Progress in Security Operation Administration Of Airports in Developing Countries Post 9/11 Scenario Table of Contents Abstract3 Security Operation Administration4 Literature Review5 Objective 10 Methodology10 Research Design11 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 13 Abstract Do people believe that there is sufficient and enough airport security system in Pakistan. And do there is a substantial threat to the airport security in Pakistan. These two issues were discussed and evaluated in this essay. After 9/11, the concept of security has changed thoroughly. Before that security at airports was mere a case of going through a scanner and a casual check up. But after 9/11 developed countries remodel their security plans. With the passage of time, developing countries also started to rethink about their security plans. Methodology was questionnaires to public and interviews with the aviation security authorities. In this way the overall perception about the security of airports was analyzed. Also past historical events were analyzed to find out the possibility of any terrorist activity on Pakistani airports. For this purpose secondary data about threats of terrorism and their actual conduct on different places were analyzed. Then various threats to airport security were analyzed. Also primary data was collected through questionnaire to find out the people perception about their security on airports. The qualitative...

Words: 3356 - Pages: 14