Aviation Security & its Impact on Airports Term Paper

Aviation Security & its Impact on Airports - Term Paper ExampleThis particular fact is even less arguable than the graduation two, and has in fact become common knowledge. It is precisely because of this that every airport, without exception, will have more than a few shops and establishments operating there, hoping to depict money tally the many inbound and outbound passengers so much so that some airports could easily be mistaken for full-blown shopping malls. Fastfood chains are in any case omnipresent in airports for those who longing to grab a bite before or after a long flight, not to mention travel agents for those who wish to avail of tours and other travel packages. However, there are also those who would use such knowledge to achieve much more sinister ends, such as al-Qaeda who precipitated 9/11 by slamming airliners into the World Trade Center as well as the Pentagon. An even more recent example is what happened in August 2006, where airports all over the United Sta tes, United Kingdom and Canada had to beef up tribute due to imminent bomb threats especially notable for cosmos the first time the US Terror Alert Level had ever been raised to red (Barrot, 2006). Without a doubt, then, airport management has the responsibility of ensuring the safety of their arriving as well as departing passengers. It was in fact the aforementioned incident that led to airports the world over stepping up their security measures permanently. While airport security could exactly have been called lax since 9/11 (Transport Security garbage disposal, 2011), the most recent update to airport security has included a more thorough bole check that includes the crotch an addition that has seen fierce debate on whether to prioritize safety or privacy of passengers. This existence the case, this paper aims to examine the very purpose of airport security, from the simplest possible definition to the currently lasting security measures. All in all, the intent is to r eflect whether the current security measures are adequate, whether they are lacking, or whether they are a bit excessive, and then from there, to make suggestions on what can still be improved. Airport Security An Overview Belger (2001) of the US Federal Aviation Administration defines airport and aviation security as a set of techniques and methods employed to safeguard aircrafts and airport, passengers and crew against crime, as well as to support national security and counterterrorism policies. Inbound and outbound passengers, regardless of reputation or stature, are subject to a thorough search for weapons, drugs, explosives and other contraband in order to make flights as safe as possible (Schneier, 2004). Not even well-known public figures are exempt from this SOP, as evidenced from how even Senator Al thrust himself went through such a stringent inspection. As detailed on the website of the Transportation Security Administration (2011), over 700 security checkpoints and ove r 7,000 baggage checking areas exist all over Americas checkpoints today. Each day, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security Technology Research Lab (TSA, 2011) new technologies and procedures are being tried and tested in order to maximize the efficiency of security checks with the intent of ensuring utmost safety and security for traveling passengers. An estimated 43,000 Transportation Se