Flying Naked Would Save A Lot Of Airport Delays And Complications
Posted: Saturday, January 02, 2010
by Gerry Charbonneau
http://nibblednews.typepad.com
"The Boeing 747 is so big that it has been said that it does not fly; the earth merely drops out from under it. . . . " Capt. Ned Wilson, Pan Am
Airport security, or at this stage of the travel game the utter lack of such security, is completely ineffective and at times a theatrical fade meant to make the general public feel falsely secure about flying the friendly skies.
Airport security is already more show than substance. All the hassle and humiliation of airport security isn't worth the paper your boarding pass is printed on. Due to the concern about national security, airport security has become stricter and more heavily enforced than ever.
Airport security has essentially become a traveler's rite of passage: the long lines, the id check, the shuffling of personal items, the removal of shoes and socks and dignity. Admittedly it has become a part of life but it doesn't have to be difficult or embarrassing.
How much airport security is enough, and does it really work? Seems like every day we hear a new story about how airport security is failing us in leaps and bounds.
Would a more intelligent approach to airport security apportion security resources to passengers and baggage in proportion to estimated risk factors and intelligence reports?
Despite the major enhancements that include shoe removal and clear quart-sized baggies, the mass-screening approach to airport security is still the very same one that failed so disastrously on 9/11.
Taking your shoes off at airport security is one of those dreaded necessities, like dentist appointments and reading about the struggling economy.
And airport security is still a necessary farce that ultimately subjects the law-abiding to collective punishment while presenting almost no deterrent to a determined suicide-killer.
Some airport security personnel are developing or have developed scanners that can see through passengers clothing. Why not allow passengers to board a plane totally naked. This action would certainly expedite the waiting time passengers have to wait to get on the plane and almost disrobe for curious security personnel.
The latest incident demonstrates that airport security is all theater. Does this extra concern about safety and security ensure that the planes themselves are safe for passenger transport?
With a little personal preparation before your flight the average passenger could do a great deal to ensure their journey through airport security was as quick and hassle-free as possible. All that has now changed dramatically as new passenger guidelines and parameters are being discussed and implemented.
Airport security should be there to protect passengers and not embarrass, humiliate or detain them unduly. Many times the problem lies with security screeners who are scared to death that if they select the wrong person to screen, they will get into trouble.
According to the Israelis, the secret to their successful airport security is not labor-intensive checkpoints, but rather a screening system that is frowned upon in many other countries. Critics label this approach as being ethnic profiling. Others label it effective management.
This Article has been viewed 606 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Good article, Gerry. I often feel we have carried political correctness to far, so far as to make it ridiculous. Personally, I feel the bigger problem with air security is the lack of communication between agencies. The latest incident seems to verify this. But, still the focus is on airport screening. A way of deflecting blame from the real problem? I suspect so.
This made me laugh out loud, Gerry, since recently I had a conversation about this very thing with some friends. We were joking that soon we would just go to the airport and it would be like the Dr's office where you strip and put on the paper gown with the open back and then we'd go sit in the airplace with paper covering the seats like the exam tables....hmmmm, maybe not so funny....
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.