Anybody have an opinion of the improved airport security?

The Canadians have got airport security figured out…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZfbTlYpKYo

Careful not to go throwing wild accusations at an airports security. One of the most important factors in airport security is the security staff knowing what’s going on and the passenger not. It wouldn’t be much of a security system if we were able to suss out exactly how airport security worked. Therefore, I’m sure they are doing their job adequately – if not, maybe US carriers would suspend flights altogether.

Good point.
I worked for airport security at Amsterdam in the 90’s.
What always got me was how short the memory was of airline pax. Quite often pax would be uncooperative and very rude, several time’s been told by frequent flyers that I should “ask my stupid questions’ elsewhere. Usually US citizens. Very gratifying, also airlines were forever complaining that security was too harsh and intimidating. In those days MP’s carrying H&K MP5’s would roam the piers where all US registered aircraft were boarding. The MP5’s had to go and only sidearms carried. Would a full check or profile check have caught the guy at Detroit. Depends how good his story was. With Security you gets what you pays for. Also being told on a regular basis to lighten up on pax does not motivate staff. One of the reasons I left.
In a few months things will be forgotten and then its time for airlines and pax to start whining how humiliating all these checks are.

!00% security is a fine goal, but also a utopia.
As for some items being looked and not. X ray machine’s can look through certain items a good screener can see if an item is a threat or not.
I perefer not to say too much as in the quote, keeping pax in the dark is one the important points to good security.

Amsterdam is no better or worse than any other European airport. Don’t jump on some media bandwagon.

The security scare that shut Newark airport for hours and delayed thousands of passengers was caused by a man who slipped into a secure area to give a woman one last goodbye kiss, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The breach at Newark Liberty Airport, one of three major airports serving the New York City area, rattled security officials and the airline industry because it came so soon after the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner.

A videotape of the Newark incident shows the man embracing a woman at the C-1 security checkpoint before she passes through passenger screening, the Star-Ledger newspaper of New Jersey said, citing unnamed security officials who have viewed the tape.

The man, who was not a passenger, walks past a spot where a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer should have been stationed to move closer to the woman, the paper said.

The woman holds up a rope meant to keep unscreened people out of the secure area so that the man can pass underneath, and they walk hand-in-hand toward the boarding area before disappearing from view, the paper reported.

The man left the airport and has not been identified. The TSA officer who was working that area has been placed on administrative leave.

Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey is attempting to make the video public, a spokesman for the senator said.

“After viewing video of the security breach, I am even more outraged by the lapse that occurred,” Lautenberg told the Star-Ledger.

One of the planes hijacked in the September 11 attacks of 2001 took off from Newark airport. That flight crashed into a Pennsylvania field.

(Reuters)

here is something amusing to watch for this topic…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bemZmORkp3Q

I think your post just about sums it up. :diablo:

here is something amusing to watch for this topic…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bemZmORkp3Q

Returned to Luton from AMS last November and the flight was ‘selected’ to try out the full body scanner, which I imagine was on trial. Really nothing much to it, cabin baggage went through the x-ray machine as normal and my laptop was removed and inspected.

The thing that took the time was having to explain to passengers how to stand in the scanner (face front, arms raised) this slowed down the process to such an extent that when I boarded the plane the crew asked were the passengers were!

Has anybody else flown to or from America and had a chance to experience the extra security? What were your opinions of it?

I havent flown to or from America recently, but working at LHR I have seen the impact of the enhanced security measures, and I can say that although they are much tighter than before and causing lengthy delays, the overall opinion is that they are welcomed by passengers.

That said, I still cannot understand why in this day and age we still have some people (and they are a minority!) that still think its ok to make fun of security and answer questions with supposedly ‘joke’ comments about bags/packages, and then when the Old Bill get involve that they suddenly realise the error of their ways…

I flew GLA-EWR yesterday, and found that security had been heightened a little. The usual procedures took place on entering the departure area, but for passengers joing the Transatlantic flight, there was additional screening at the departure gate. Each and every passenger was given a second screening, comprising a full body pat-down, and their hand baggage was searched (by hand). Shoes also had to be removed and were examined (not x-rayed). Additional time was recommended by check-in staff, with the suggestion that passengers could head to the departure gate from about two hours before the flight was due out. Incidentally, although both the BAA and the airline websites suggested allowing additional time for security, the check-in desks did not open any earlier, which meant that there were quite a number of passengers waiting in the airport check-in area twiddling their thumbs for an hour beforehand. Although I did attempt to do an internet check-in before I left home, when reaching the last page I was advised by the airline’s website that I would have to use a check-in desk at GLA. No surprise there!

The actual screening was not a problem itself, and was carried out in an efficient and professional manner, as one would expect. Once passengers had passed through the second security checks, however, they had no access to any airport facilities at all, and the seating at the gate was insufficient for everybody boarding the flight. That said, I was under the impression that nobody seemed to mind the extra precautions being taken, and were generally pretty understanding of the situation.

As for the staff at Newark… ’nuff said? :rolleyes:

Funny that, because I was asked to remove my shoes at Heathrow Airport yesterday morning at the first security checkpoint. It looks like this procedure is a little more ‘normal’ than you thought.

I can additionally confirm that a number of airports have been x-raying shoes ever since the liquid bomb threat. Not sure why Schipol have not been/aren’t. Perhaps their personal x-ray gates are more powerful/sophisticated than others? Did anyone see the BBC news report on the full body scans at Domodedovo airport? Look like a great idea.

Are you suggesting that everybody who passes successfully through a metal detector is not carrying something they shouldn’t be? The ‘terrorist’ who passed through Amsterdam’s lax security with explosives on Christmas Day was not carrying any metals.

Careful not to go throwing wild accusations at an airports security. One of the most important factors in airport security is the security staff knowing what’s going on and the passenger not. It wouldn’t be much of a security system if we were able to suss out exactly how airport security worked. Therefore, I’m sure they are doing their job adequately – if not, maybe US carriers would suspend flights altogether.

So, when a bag has been x-rayed, whatever is inside can legally be carried onto an aircraft? Presumably you also feel that once a passenger has passed through a metal detector, then they too are considered to pose no risk to an aircraft when in flight? Tell me then, what is the point of this second supposedly more thorough check at the gate, which appears to be nothing more than a repeat of what I (and everybody else) had already experienced earlier in the day? We were promised extra security; body searches and bag searches. Frankly, I couldn’t care less if a bag has been through an x-ray machine a dozen times, a bag search should be exactly that – a ‘search’. A quick peek at the contents simply isn’t enough.

Did they swab your bag with a wand and test the swab? If so, that may negate the need to do another full search. Otherwise, maybe they are happy with the scanning x-ray procedures of Schipol security.

No, I’d say it was more ‘mediocre’. A very good check would be subjecting all passengers to the same checks as me. Two thirds of the passengers on the aircraft did not endure the pat down or ‘baggage search’ that I did.

Not that I want to disagree with everything you are saying, but I want to make sure you have a balanced opinion before you start a hate campaign against Schipol security……Take in to consideration the extra resources required to search every passenger. Perhaps this is not possible or it is just felt unrealistic at this time. Also, did you fly (even a month ago) when the pat down was (for example) every sixth passenger? Did you feel safe then? Of course you did, because you had faith in the security (perhaps this idiot last month throws this argument out the window!). Again, they (security) should know what they are doing and what they are capable of.

Never had that anywhere in Europe. I know if it standard procedure in the USA, but in Europe this is not normally done.

Funny that, because I was asked to remove my shoes at Heathrow Airport yesterday morning at the first security checkpoint. It looks like this procedure is a little more ‘normal’ than you thought. I think you might mean that isn’t a normal procedure at sloppy Schiphol, which has popped up in the newspapers again today. I wonder just how seriously this airport takes security – PLANE CRAZY: WE CARRY A SYRINGE ON JET AT TERROR AIRPORT.

Seems more then average. Also, since everyone goes through the detector gates anyway it filters out a lot of people anyway. Looks like the gates where set at tighter tolerances then normally.

Are you suggesting that everybody who passes successfully through a metal detector is not carrying something they shouldn’t be? The ‘terrorist’ who passed through Amsterdam’s lax security with explosives on Christmas Day was not carrying any metals.

What do you propose to make this inspection safer, considering the bag has already gone through X-ray? Empty a machine gun at the bag and see if it explodes?

So, when a bag has been x-rayed, whatever is inside can legally be carried onto an aircraft? Presumably you also feel that once a passenger has passed through a metal detector, then they too are considered to pose no risk to an aircraft when in flight? Tell me then, what is the point of this second supposedly more thorough check at the gate, which appears to be nothing more than a repeat of what I (and everybody else) had already experienced earlier in the day?

We were promised extra security; body searches and bag searches. Frankly, I couldn’t care less if a bag has been through an x-ray machine a dozen times, a bag search should be exactly that – a ‘search’. A quick peek at the contents simply isn’t enough.

Very good security check then.

No, I’d say it was more ‘mediocre’. A very good check would be subjecting all passengers to the same checks as me. Two thirds of the passengers on the aircraft did not endure the pat down or ‘baggage search’ that I did.

You can’t have done that much flying then. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to take my shoes off in the last 5 years!

Paul

About 6 to 8 flights a year for the last 3 or 4 year. So not the most active traveller, but still a good amount of flights. Most of my flights go to London but also Birmingham, Zurich, Madrid, Barcelona, Milano and most recently Washington. The next one will probably be to Salzburg in a week or two. Not yet booked so might still change my mind.

Most of the flights depart from Schiphol, but occaisionally from Eindhoven as well.

Never had that anywhere in Europe.

You can’t have done that much flying then. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to take my shoes off in the last 5 years!

Paul

I had the pleasure of flying through Amsterdam yesterday on my way back to America and was expecting more thorough security checks than ever before, but was disappointed. The security checks in place at the gate in Amsterdam appeared no different to the standard security that all passengers are subject to;

By your description, they sound more thorough then normally.

removal and x-raying of shoes,

Never had that anywhere in Europe. I know if it standard procedure in the USA, but in Europe this is not normally done.

Only about 1 in 3 passengers were subject to a baggage search and a pat down.

Seems more then average. Also, since everyone goes through the detector gates anyway it filters out a lot of people anyway. Looks like the gates where set at tighter tolerances then normally.

Our gate was opened about 1 hour 20 minutes before scheduled departure and our flight eventually got under way 1 hour 30 minutes behind schedule,

That would be due to the additional security.

I was subjected to a search of my single item of hand baggage and also patted down. The pat down was brutal and probably would have found anything I might have concealed under my clothing

Very good security check then.

but the bag search was pathetic. The only item removed from my bag was a laptop, which was opened briefly, and then closed. A large book, my digital camera, my MP3 player, my wallet and more were left in the bag and not actually inspected!

What do you propose to make this inspection safer, considering the bag has already gone through X-ray? Empty a machine gun at the bag and see if it explodes?

I hope you had a nice flight, and did not feel too unsafe on board. 😉