Your typical federalized airport security guy...
"Sir, it's a felony to tease us while we examine your crotch."
Posted on 08/23/2002 2:28:49 PM PDT by SW6906
WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The United States is wasting huge sums of money on technology meant to thwart attacks on airliners when it should rely more on profiling to identify would-be terrorists, the trade group for U.S. airlines said on Thursday.
"I think we're not on the right track yet," Malcolm Armstrong of the Air Transport Association of America told a congressionally mandated commission. "We're going to wind up spending a billion dollars on technology that is not deserving of that much money."
Armstrong is senior vice president for operations and safety at the association, whose 22 member airlines carry more than 95 percent of the passenger and cargo traffic in the United States.
At a public meeting of the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, he said airline security should be based on stepped-up intelligence-gathering -- notably on those fitting the profile of a hijacker -- backed by such things as cockpit fortifications and enhanced check-in precautions.
The United States began deploying up to 1,100 large explosive-detection machines, each costing about $1 million, at airports nationwide after the Sept. 11 hijackings of four U.S. commercial airliners led to attacks that killed more than 3,000 people.
By Dec. 31, thousands of smaller machines also are slated to be installed to sniff for traces of explosives in checked baggage.
Among the big players in the business are Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) , Boeing Co. (BA) and Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) , the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 U.S. defense contractors, respectively. Another big contractor, Raytheon Co. (RTN) , has been involved in installations.
'THE GOVERNMENT OUGHT TO BE PAYING'
Airlines and airports are getting stuck with an "inordinate" share of the bill for the new technology, Armstrong added in a telephone interview.
"The government ought to be paying for this stuff," he said.
Armstrong said the federal government, not the airlines, should take responsibility for handling aviation security "end to end."
"And the front-end of that piece should be intelligence-gathering -- information about what the threats are, who the threats are, where those threats are, where they intend to be," he said. "You follow the profiles of the activity that you are trying to discover."
Profiling is criticized by some as unfairly boosting scrutiny of ethnic minorities.
The airlines have been hard hit by declining demand and rising security costs sparked by the Sept. 11 attacks.
Duane Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, told the commission that stepped-up user fees, especially a $5-per travel leg post-Sept. 11 security add-on, were killing U.S. airlines, not labor costs.
U.S. airlines' labor costs were about 15 percent lower than those of their European competitors but user fees were about double in the United States, said Woerth, whose association represents 66,000 pilots flying for 43 airlines in the United States and Canada.
User fees total about $44 on a $100 U.S. passenger airline ticket, declining to about 26 percent on a $200 ticket, Armstrong told the commission.
Where did they get the unfair part?
If only I were an Arabic male age 20 to 40, I sppose I'd pass right through.
By the way, an obnoxious Arabic male age 20 said to me the other day "Call security or call my lawyer, but don't talk to me."
CAIR at work.
No thanks. I'd rather have it done by private interests, which can be sued out of existence should they fail. No passing the buck.
What's killing the airlines is that people are fed-up with the hassle of flying. We are choosing to drive instead (for short trips), choosing alternative vacations that don't require flying, and finding alternative ways to do business that don't require us to hop on an airplane for every meeting in another city.
I agree.
Profile? Yes we do, but that would be highly un PC, and we will never do anything un PC. I am so pessimistic about PC, that I believe nucs going off on American soil will not put a dent in it. I hope I am wrong, but I am never surprised by the many lunatics in America, mostly Demon Cats, I would guess.
In the year prior to 9/11, I logged about 20,000 miles through the air. Since then, my total air miles has been zero.
I've simply chosen to drive rather than put up with the illegal searches and seizures conducted by third-worlders with a water-cooler nazi mindset.
Until the airlines and the govt recognize my Rights as a Free man, I won't be flying anytime soon. This includes the Right to bear arms, as well as the Right to not be searched without a warrant or probable cause.
The real problem with profiling is that once the profile is known, it is no longer effective.
Have you seen Michael Jackson lately?. Profiling is a way to use limited resources but it still leaves known holes. Box cutters were not part of the profile (guns were).
This has nothing to do with racism.
Your typical federalized airport security guy...
The TSA is already practicing frisks of Soccer Moms and Overweight American Businessmen, not to mention having every American male unbuckle his belt at the security checkpoint, in full public view. Then of course a little pat-down of the abdomen underneath the the belt.
You bet they'd have their butts sued to a faretheewell. Which is why the airlines want nothing to do with it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.