After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, America was forced to open its eyes to a brand new world. Many thought that what was going on in the Middle East would never reach the United States. The attacks now bring up many new concerns such as airline safety. Is it really as highly regarded as airline travelers think? A way to look at the 9-11 tragedy is as a learning experience. Times have changed, so we must adjust to these changes. Airline security needs to be revaluated to prevent any other major attacks such as 9-11.
One of the misconceptions about airport security is that the security personnel at airport checkpoints worked for the government or the airlines. According Mike Fish, a writer for CNN in his article "Airport Security: A system driven by minimum wage" "The truth is, under current Federal Aviation Administration guidelines, airlines are responsible for airline security but, they bid the job out to private security firms. This is because the airlines want to cut costs" (np). This means that the job of security goes to the lowest bidder. The contractor is then going to go to the minimum wage person, so they can make some money. The article also says that "the starting salary for security screeners at 14 of 18 of the nations largest airports was $6 or less, and that there was a turn over rate of at least once a year" (np). This raises issues about the quality of airline security.
To prevent more hijackings, airlines have implemented many new security measures such as reinforced cockpit doors, self-protection classes for flight attendants, and increased screening at the airports. Many other options are being explored like new security equipment and better-trained personnel. There have been increases in random searches. Since 9-11, it was mandated that there would be dramatic changes in airport security. Has this really happened? In a discussion between Aviation consultants Mike Boyd and Jim Tilman and hosts James Carville and Robert Novak states that "It is literally impossible to take the security program, shut it down and replace it overnight.
