I thought I'd just write a little bit from the inside ( I think many
of you know that I work for Pan American) so that folks have a little
bit of an idea what the airlines themselves are going through. This
is completely OT, so if you aren't interested, stop reading now. 8)
What I'm writing below is meant as an explanation - not a
justification.
When everything happened last week, the airlines were obviously just
as surprised as everybody else. The difficult thing is this -
everybody is screaming about the lack of security, and simultaneously
about the hassles of the security. This does make things difficult
for the airlines.
The unfortunate truth is that the airlines CAN'T prevent somebody from
getting a weapon on board. Plain and simple. However, with the
recent events, the FAA has mandated that everybody begin to follow some
new rules.
1) 2% of baggage carrying passengers on EVERY flight must be subjected
to what Maddog went through. Trust me, the folks working for the
airlines do not like this either. It slows things down significantly
and inconveniences (and upsets) passengers greatly. These folks are
chosen randomly by the computer in most cases.
2) What we internally call "profiling". Externally we don't use this
phrase because it brings up images of racism, ethnism, etc. It is NOT
base on physical appearance - in fact with most airlines (Pan Am
included) the computer makes the decision - not people. I'm not
allowed to give out information on what the exact conditions are that
will flag somebody, but, if you are flagged, you will be subjected to
the above mentioned search.
3) Knives of ANY kind are not permitted on flights. This is why
(once you have passed by the metal detector) there are no longer
any knives at the lounge areas.
4) Non passengers are no longer allowed past the checkin point. If
you're going to be saying goodbye's - you'll have to do it before you
go through security.
As a warning, rumor mill has it that carry-on luggage may be
disallowed soon as well.
Will any of this prevent last week's disaster from happening again?
Probably not. Will these new restrictions loosen and go away over
time? My opinion is yes, at least until it happens again.
--
Cole Tuininga
Lead Developer
Code Energy, Inc
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(603) 766-2208
PGP Key ID: 0x43E5755D
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