We must begin profiling air travelers, checking air cargo

Letters to Editor
September 11, 2006

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With the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, upon us, a lot of us are asking, "Are we safer?"

From my perspective as an airline pilot flying international routes, we are not. Our government has failed us as air travelers in at least two critical areas: the failure to have profilers in our airports and the failure to adequately search air cargo.

Does it make you feel safe every time you go through security and the Transportation Safety Administration has some 85-year-old grandmother from Iowa pulled aside searching her orthopedic shoes? Recently, on two separate occasions, friends of mine, both airline pilots in uniform, were traveling with their elderly mothers when they were stopped at security. One friend was with his 90-year-old mother, who was asked to strip off the corset she wears due to numerous stress fractures in her back. And because her walker didn't fit in the X-ray machine, they swabbed it to check for explosive residue. My other friend was with his 82-year-old mother when she was pulled aside and frisked because she was carrying Chap Stick. I can't tell you how much it angers me to see this resource being wasted.

So how do we fix it?

First, we need to begin profiling air travelers. We should hire as consultants the heads of security for the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, and do what they tell us. They have more than 50 years experience looking for the same people we are now looking for, and they know what they are doing.

Second, every airport should have state-of-the-art explosive detection equipment, but they don't. Why? Because it's expensive.

So how do we pay for it? We pay $3 for a latte, $3 for a gallon of gas and at least $7 for a glass of wine at our favorite restaurant. I don't think anyone would complain about a $10 tax on every plane ticket if it makes flying safe from terrorists.

I used to love my job and looked forward to going to work. I don't anymore; I worry a lot. I am fed up with the way our government has handled airport/aircraft security.

If we continue along the same path with airport security that we have taken for the past five years, it's just a matter of time before the terrorists get another aircraft full of innocent men, women and children. Our political correctness and lack of action guarantees it.

W.W. Wilson, Thornton