Running head: Airport Security

Airport Security Improvements Before and After the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack

Andrew Fuller

South Carolina State University

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to research improvements that have been made since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and study airport security before September 11. According to ABC News 4 much has changed in our country over the last seven years including airport security. Air travel has been greatly affected by 9/11. Security measures have caused an increase in passengers to face many more steps before boarding flights. In November 2001 The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was formed to secure airports both inside and out.

Statement of the Problem or Objective

Since the September 11 attacks security as a whole has undergone drastic changes in America. All aspects have been upgraded and reevaluated to take all the necessary precautions to either prevent another event as such or to be better prepared if it were to happen again. In the past airport security was pretty basic. You arrived at the airport got checked in and left. Now you have to carry everything in little bottles and take your shoes off and other accessories to pass through the metal detectors. According to Security Solutions the most improvements have been made on airplanes. Cockpits are bullet proof and pilots and their crews are secured from the rest of the plane. In addition new thermal imagers are in place to take x-rays to see if anything is being hidden on the body such as body-borne explosives. George McClure said that before September 11, airport security consisted of a ticket agent asking if you packed your bag yourself, if it had been in your continuous custody since you packed it, and whether you had been given anything to carry aboard by a stranger. Then, you walked through a metal detector, after putting your keys, coin change and pocket knife (or box cutter) through an x-ray machine. Except for international flights, checked bags were not x-rayed or otherwise inspected. If you were served a meal on board, you may have been provided with a metal dinner knife. Then after the attack sharp objects such as knives, screwdrivers, box cutters and etc. were not permitted on neither domestic or international flights.

The purpose of this study is to research improvements that have been made since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. Even though there are no entries on airport security specifically we know that extensive changes have occurred over the last ten years. I propose that airport security is not at is final stage and that there is still more improvements to come.

Literature and Theoretical Perspective

According to Frederickson and LaPorte, the events of 911 have raised troubling questions regarding the reliability and security of American commercial air travel. They believe that for commercial air travel to be highly secure, there must be very high levels of technical competence and sustained performance, regular training, structure redundancy, collegial, decentralized authority patterns, processes that reward error discovery and correction, adequate and reliable funding, high mission valence, reliable and timely information, and protection from external interference in operations.

Other research also states that the airport security system in place in early September of 2001 was fragmented. Security was the joint responsibility of airport operators, airlines, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). More than 400 airports in the United States were responsible for providing a law enforcement presence. They also were charged with controlling access to the secure areas of the airport and for policing the perimeter of the airport. Some airport authorities contracted with private security firms, whereas others operated their own security or used regular police forces. Airlines, numbering more than 100 carriers, were responsible for security of the aircraft. They were responsible for the screening of passengers, baggage, and other cargo for weapons and explosives. Airlines contracted with private security companies to do the screening. Seidenstat also discusses how airport security has changed since the terrorist attack. He states that after this event the government had three actions they could take. The nation could upgrade the present system, shift the entire responsibility to airport managers, or federalize the security system. The current security measures are also being appreciated by travelers, especially the ones who travel often.

Materials and Procedures

The airport of concentration for this project is Columbia Metropolitan Airport in Columbia, South Carolina. This airport was selected because it is the largest in South Carolina with domestic flights. To get a better understanding of how security has changed a list of questions will be provided to the head of security for he or she to answer to the best of their knowledge about security past and present. On this questionnaire they will have the option to express their beliefs on the current security measures in place and they will be able to express what improvements if any can be made at their local airport or any public used airport in these United States.

The Chief of Security will have from November until December to complete the questionnaire. It will be comprised of questions asking about airport security past and airport security now. There will also be a comment section for the officer to fill in if the survey doesn’t cover something that they thought would be of concern to them.

Time Line

August-2009-Get permission from airport administration

September-2009-Develop questions

October-2009-Edit and revise period

November-2009-Issue questions to security office at airport

December-2009-Collect, anylayze, and compare results

References

Airport Security, High Reliability, and the Problem of Rationality
H. George Frederickson, Todd R. LaPorte
Public Administration Review, Vol. 62, Special Issue: Democratic Governance in the Aftermath of September 11, 2001 (Sep., 2002), pp. 33-43
Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Society for Public Administration
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3110168

Seidenstat, Paul, (2004). Terrorism, Airport Security, and the Private Sector. Academic Search Premier, 21(3), 275-291

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Budget

Printed Questionnaire………. $1.00

Travel……………………….. $165.00 (.55x300 Miles)

**A trip from Eutawville to Columbia is approximately 75 miles one way. (150 miles to get the questionnaire there and 150 to pick them up)

Appendix A

Security Questionnaire

1. What do you think is the major security change since 911?

2. Do you believe that all of these changes were necessary?

3. What changes do you feel that should have been made that were omitted?

4. What change if any can you see a major difference in?

5. After the implementation of TSA do you think you are bettered prepared if an attack were to reoccur?

6. Before the attacks do you think your security operations were good enough?

7. With all the new security devices do you still have passengers who still try to bring aboard items that they know are permitted?

8. Has TSA fulfill your security needs since being employed here?

9. Give three reasons why you are glad that TSA is in effect?

10. What do you believe that was a part of the old security that can still be useful now?

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