Airline “security”
Does this story about terrorist “dry runs” on US flights surprise anyone? Does the fact that the government completely mismanaged events surrounding the dry runs surprise anyone, either?
This morning, I flew from JFK on JetBlue, for what seems like the hundredth time in the last six months. Let’s just say I fly JetBlue from JFK a lot. Without being asked to do so, and out of habit, I placed my passport on the counter for the JetBlue staffer to check before she loaded my two bags onto the conveyor belt that would eventually lead them onto the plane. My passport remained on the counter, unchecked, while she sorted out my luggage. I was finally sent on my way without a glance being given to my ID.
I reported this to a JetBlue supervisor, who seemed very appreciative. This, after another JetBlue employee dismissed my concerns by saying, “Well, they’ll check your ID before you get into the security line.” So…it’s cool that my luggage is already on its way to the plane? So…there’s no reason to suspect that this employee is failing to check many more IDs? These points about her colleague’s conduct were lost on this particular JetBlue cog.
I can’t say I was altogether shocked at how lax the first line of security can be at one of the country’s most trafficked airports. Worse, because of all of the busywork being done to give the appearance of security - making us all remove our shoes, carry liquids in a quart-sized bag, have our bodies searched for traces of explosives - too many people think that something is being done…by somebody else…about security. So they see no need at all to be vigilant or aware themselves.
I’m happy to report that security on Greyhound (I get a lift with them from Columbus to Cincinnati) is, in my experience, much better. Too bad they don’t go as far as London.
Filed under: Life
To me that says a lot about Jetblue that you bus it from Columbus to Cincinnati. Then again I’ve never tried to get from Covington to downtown.
The increased security requirements since September 11 are not largely about security. They are about the need for something to be seen to be done, and about people covering their arses if another attack occurred. (”Look at all the things we did to try to prevent this, but unfortunately it was not enough… But we tried”). Like you, I fly a lot, and I have noticed enough weaknesses in the security procedures in various places that I am pretty sure I could get round them if I tried. (I am thinking of serious ways, too, not just getting a Swiss army knife or a tube of toothpaste on board).
As for the ID requirement, well it is ridiculous. There is a huge fake ID industry out there, and plenty of the IDs it produces are certainly good enough to get you on an aircraft. And like you, I have boarded aircraft (recently) without having my ID checked at all. (Hell, since September 11 I have boarded aircraft without having my hand luggage X-Rayed. That was in the third world, but it was in a (muslim) country, when boarding a flight for a rich country that could easily have been a terrorist target, so I can’t see how that fact is likely to be comforting).
Checks in London are thorough, but the people administering seem to have lost any belief that there is any point to them.
What is needed is people watching who are alert and responsive, not a set of mindless bureaucratic procedures. But it is clear what we have.