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mekannik
New member
Just a thought I had after listening to some of the news yesterday. One newscast went on and on about the lax security around our airports and how government tests resulted in 2/3 of weapons being snuck on board or unticketed passengers gaining access to the interior of planes.
I called my father to discuss some of these facts (he worked for UAL for over 30 years [20 as an un-official U.S. Customs Agent] – at 3 major U.S. international airports – so he knows a little about security and customs).
First off, airports pay minimum wage to the people working metal detectors. Coupled with high turnover and on land “air rage” over flight delays – you can understand their trying to keep the lines moving and letting “little” things go by. By little things I mean the 4” knifes that are perfectly legal to carry on board planes.
Now the tough one. If you have traveled on an airplane in the last year – goto the nearest mirror and look into the eyes of one of the people responsible for lessened security. Tough pill to swallow, but true. Not wanting to stand in line while each and every bag is searched at a security gate. Not wanting to sit and wait for a pre-takeoff plane search and verify. Not wanting to have to deal with delays for “every little thing”.
CHRIST – all I want to do is get in my seat, drink my bloody mary, and eat my peanuts. Where’s the damn stewardess? How come that guy has two pillows and I only have one? Can you hand me a magazine before your flight safety speech?
Go overseas and look around airports like Frankfurt and London Heathrow. Patrols with machine guns and inspectors that will dump your suitcase (and private marital aids) onto the floor if they get just a hint of contraband. But the incidents of hijacking have gone way down – ever since they learned their lesson the HARD WAY.
So the next time the line is moving slow at the airport security checkpoint or your flight is delayed for some “reason” – consider what happened yesterday and what could have possibley been done to avoid it.
I called my father to discuss some of these facts (he worked for UAL for over 30 years [20 as an un-official U.S. Customs Agent] – at 3 major U.S. international airports – so he knows a little about security and customs).
First off, airports pay minimum wage to the people working metal detectors. Coupled with high turnover and on land “air rage” over flight delays – you can understand their trying to keep the lines moving and letting “little” things go by. By little things I mean the 4” knifes that are perfectly legal to carry on board planes.
Now the tough one. If you have traveled on an airplane in the last year – goto the nearest mirror and look into the eyes of one of the people responsible for lessened security. Tough pill to swallow, but true. Not wanting to stand in line while each and every bag is searched at a security gate. Not wanting to sit and wait for a pre-takeoff plane search and verify. Not wanting to have to deal with delays for “every little thing”.
CHRIST – all I want to do is get in my seat, drink my bloody mary, and eat my peanuts. Where’s the damn stewardess? How come that guy has two pillows and I only have one? Can you hand me a magazine before your flight safety speech?
Go overseas and look around airports like Frankfurt and London Heathrow. Patrols with machine guns and inspectors that will dump your suitcase (and private marital aids) onto the floor if they get just a hint of contraband. But the incidents of hijacking have gone way down – ever since they learned their lesson the HARD WAY.
So the next time the line is moving slow at the airport security checkpoint or your flight is delayed for some “reason” – consider what happened yesterday and what could have possibley been done to avoid it.
