The U.S. airport system is vulnerable to attacks by committed individuals. While the system could be improved, it's not immediately clear what could feasibly be done, given the nature of American society and the demands of air travelers.
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It would be a simple matter to smuggle a knife, especially a box cutter, onto an airliner; such weapons could be easily concealed in carry-on luggage and nearly undetectable by airport-gate security personnel, says Israel Boim, president of Air Security International, a security firm based in Houston. Even a gun is not hard to smuggle on, as it can be camouflaged to look like an ordinary cell phone.
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Security experts also say that the system on U.S. domestic flights could be improved by using metal doors on cockpits and by beefing up the training of gate security workers. Black says U.S. airliners don't use metal doors because they are heavier and using them would require reducing the number of seats, which would be costly to airlines operating on very tight margins.
Boim suggests that U.S. airports fail to check passengers the way European airports do. "[European airport security workers] check different passengers differently if they are suspicious," he says. But in the U.S., concerns about charges of "racial profiling" mitigate against acting based on inchoate suspicions--regarding Arab men, for example--even at airport gates. American gate security workers are also under pressure to get passengers to their departure areas quickly.
"In this country, we're into economics and not delaying one of our precious passengers, so they fly with us again," Black says. He says the airlines and their passengers are not willing to pay the price for adequate security.
