Aviation Security

Aviation Security

Introduction

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the government agency charged with ensuring air safety. But, some experts say, the agency's other mandate, to promote air travel, often works at cross purposes with its safety mission. After four terrorist hijackings on Sept. 11, 2001 some observers and policy makers are taking a closer look at the FAA. According to a report by consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen, the FAA is too entangled with the airline industry to fulfill its duty of ensuring safety in the skies. "The FAA has been commandeered by the very industry it is supposed to regulate and as a consequence, aviation security has become dangerously lax," says Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. "Millions of people fly daily and rely on airlines--and the FAA's oversight of those airlines--to keep them safe. But the system is not working, and we have seen the deadly consequences. The Congress must change the system now."

As evidence, the group points out that the Air Transport Association (ATA), the lobbying group formed by the top nine airlines, has spent millions of dollars trying to dissuade the FAA and legislators from passing stronger security measures that would cost the airlines more money. From 1997 to 2000, Public Citizen says, the ATA spent $62.9 million lobbying the FAA, Congress and the president. It was during that time, the group says, that the government was considering several safety recommendations made by a commission that was appointed after the crash of TWA Flight 800 off the southern coast of Long Island, New York in 1996.

"In 2000 alone, the industry employed 210 lobbyists, including 108 who previously worked for the federal government," according to a Public Citizen report. The fact that the ATA employed so many former government employees, experts say, is significant because former government employees tend to have more access to members of Congress and therefore wield more influence.

Prior to current administrator Jane Garvey, the three previous FAA administrators had all come from the airline industry. (Garvey had come from the Transportation Department, although she had also served a stint as the director of Logan International Airport in Boston, Mass.) Public Citizen and some analysts claim that the selection of former industry insiders for the top post at the FAA further indicates the "cozy relationship" between the airlines and the FAA.

One solution offered by Public Citizen is the creation of a new federal agency that is either independent or under the auspices of the Justice Department. The new agency "could be devoted exclusively to assessing and addressing aviation security threats and coordinating with other law enforcement agencies," says Public Citizen.

The Transportation Security Administration works with aviation across the globe, within the United States, and is also making sure we have strong protection within the airports themselves. They have security at each and every airport, and have many requirements and regulations passengers must follow. According to the TSA, “Effective June 21, 2008 adult passengers (18 and over) are required to show a ...