Post 9/11: Changes In Airport Security Policies

b) Screening of passengers and carry-on luggage. When the Federal Aviation Administration ran a test sometime in 1987, it was established that the screeners missed about 20% of the potentially dangerous objects that were planted by the FAA for the inspection. The GAO was further alarmed with the performance of the screeners on 2000 due to the apparent decline in the ability of the screening personnel to detect the potentially dangerous items (Seidenstat, 2004).

Changes in Security Guidelines in the Airports

After the terrorist attack on September 2001, there are many changes that were executed in the airport security systems, and these changes ranged from thorough inspection of individual passengers as well as additional screening procedures, which the security personnel deemed appropriate. For example, following the 9/11, passengers were required to submit their bags for inspection prior to boarding the flight. The change in airport security has come at a great price as the passengers, security personnel, and the aviation industry as whole were affected. It has been over a decade since 2001, and that fateful event dictated the manner by which new

security measures are implemented. The 9/11 brought about the immediate realization of the weakness of the security system, thus what followed is the adoption of different strategies such as the hardened cockpit doors, new on board security processes and the hiring and training of new airline marshalls (Johnstone, 2006).
The Federalization of Passenger Screening
The 9/11 attack was a major devastating event that prompted the scrutiny of the weakness in airport security procedures.

It was found that there was a significant weakness in the manner by which security personnel who are tasked to man the passenger screening operation are hired and keep. Consequently, in order not to lose the public confidence in the aviation industry, specifically in the screening system, the government, through the Aviation and Transportation Security act (ATSA), established the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which became responsible for security issues in the transportation sector. While the tasked of TSA involved all the forms of transportation modes, it primarily focused on the aviation industry where it has implemented new security guidelines as well as security

policies.
There are three significant issues addressed by the TSA as it worked for the improvement of the security screening efficiency and organization. One of which is the hiring for additional staffs as a means to hasten the screening process; it was noted that before the 9/11, there were already more than 16,000 private passenger security screeners who were positioned in the different U.S airports. The TSA found the number inadequate, thus, by the end of 2002, it caused the hiring of an additional 56,000 screening personnel for both passenger and baggage screening (Blalock et al, 2007). Another TSA policy was the increased in the compensation of screening employees. There was a notably high rate of turnover among screeners, and perhaps, the implementation of better wages and benefits helped in the decrease of the turnover rate in the succeeding years. Further, the TSA worked for the thorough training of the screening personnels such as the increased number hours spent in training (Blalock ,Kadiyali, Simon, 2007)