Editorial: Airport security too weak

Friday, Sept. 21, 2001 | 9:38 a.m.

Last week federal aviation officials ordered measures that they said would improve airport security after the Sept. 11 acts of terrorism. Some of these steps included a ban on curbside check-ins, allowing only passengers to go beyond security checkpoints and an increase in the number of armed security personnel. Much more will be needed, though, to beef up the quality of airport security.

Part of the problem with airport security in the United States is that it hasn't been treated with the same seriousness with which other nations view it. The United States relies on the airlines to fund airport security, which they contract out to private firms. These private employers pay low wages and provide little training, resulting in an airline security work force in this country that, overall, is inadequate to meet the task.

It's not as if questions about airport security are something new. During the 1990s the Department of Transportation's inspector general, Mary Schiavo, repeatedly demonstrated how easy it was to carry fake weapons into secure areas of the airport, and even onto aircraft. And in a report last year the General Accounting Office noted that airport security didn't discover contraband about 20 percent of the time. For Americans who have traveled abroad, especially to Europe and Israel where security is incredibly tight, airport security in the United States can seem nonexistent.

The personal safety of airline passengers is of paramount importance, not to mention that transportation is vital to our economy, and last week's terrorism attacks demonstrated that air safety must now be considered a matter of national security. From now on the federal government should assume responsibility for airport security, making these individuals employees of the federal government. The jobs should pay enough to enable the government to attract the most competent employees, who should be highly trained.

So who will pay for this? Currently those who fly pay for security through the cost of their tickets. But transportation safety costs are something that all Americans should bear, not just those who fly. Besides, if only those who fly were asked to pick up the tab, then flying could once again become an exclusive club for the rich.

Privatizing airport security never made sense in the first place. Last week's terrorism should erase any doubts about placing the federal government in its proper role of ensuring air safety.