In Post-9/11 World, Travel Is Drastically Different - PC Magazine

Traveling has changed drastically in the 10 years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, particularly since the November 2011 creation of the Transportation Security Administration.

Prior to the inception of the TSA, airport security was left up to the individual airlines, which usually hired independent contractors to handle security checkpoints. Travelers could breeze through the checkpoints with relative ease, accompanied by non-travelers who saved goodbyes until they arrived at the gate.

But in the decade since September 11, the TSA has added a series of measures to the process that can make passing through security a headache.

When passengers go through security, they're required to do things like: remove their shoes, belts, and jackets; remove their laptops from their bags when they pass through the luggage scanner; and carry liquids in amounts no larger than three ounces all in a quart-sized bag.

The TSA somewhat controversially introduced full-body scanners in 2008 at 10 of the busiest airports in the country. Three years later, about 500 of these scanners have been added to 79 airports around the United States. These airport scanners, or advanced imaging technology machines (AIT), made news last Thanksgiving primarily because of an invasive pat down that ensued if someone opted out of being scanned or if TSA detected something unusual after a passenger went through a scan.  There were also concerns about the levels of radiation the machines used, and if the images were stored and searchable on the Internet.

Since then, the TSA has added software that doesn't show a specific passenger, but instead highlights a specific area of concern when it pops up on a scan.

The TSA says the AIT machines allow it to "detect metallic and nonmetallic threats including weapons and explosives concealed under layers of clothing on passengers without physical contact." It also uses advanced technology X-ray, bottled liquid scanners, and explosive trace detection (ETD) to monitor luggage.

While this technology has added several layers of security, it has made the days when a passenger could arrive at an airport just 30 minutes before a flight a distant memory.

But the TSA is still evolving. According to the Associated Press, in July the government announced that the TSA would start testing a new program that had a small number of travelers volunteer information beforehand, allowing them to go through security more swiftly. It would also allow travelers to keep their shoes on.

"It makes sense to try to identify those who are willing to share information about themselves, and if we can make some judgments about them as part of this risk based screening initiative, then perhaps one of the benefits is they can in all likelihood keep their shoes on," TSA Administrator John Pistole told the AP.

Pistole said 10 years post-9/11, travel is safer, but there "are no guarantees." 

"We'd love to have a kind of screening portal that you just step in and, boom, it's got everything and you go through and it's painless and very, very quick," Homeland Security Department Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Tuesday at a breakfast meeting organized by Politico. "The technology isn't quite there yet and it won't be for a while, but I think one of the first things you will see over time is the ability to keep your shoes on, and one of the last thing you will probably see is a reduction or removing of the limitation on liquids."  

Even so, most travelers aren't satisfied with these procedures. A Rasmussen Reports poll from last year found that 53 percent of Americans say these post-9/11 security procedures are "more hassle than they're worth."

However, not all changes have prompted a negative response, and some are due to advances in technology rather than changes in security procedures. Many cockpits are beginning to go paperless, replacing pilots' hefty 38-pound flight manuals with sleek pound and a half iPads. Airlines including American, Delta, United, Continental, and Alaska Airlines have digitized flight bags in this way. However, this doesn't negate that familiar FAA rule requiring passengers to switch off their Class 1 electronic devices for takeoff and landing.

Additionally, airlines have added wireless access for passengers, and the definition of what that allows travelers to do in the air is ever expanding. American recently added movie streaming on personal devices like tablets and smartphones.

For more from Leslie, follow her on Twitter @LesHorn.

11 Sep, 2011

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