I hate flying. I just took a short trip and, standing in line in my stocking feet while removing clothing and placing everything in those little gray containers, I couldn’t help but look at the machines and all the money being spent and I had to wonder just how safe all of this was making us. While passengers are screened heavily and passenger baggage is run through screening machines, “most cargo that flies on passenger flights receives far less scrutiny than the people and baggage traveling on the same airplane.” (Center for American Progress) A bill recently signed by President Bush “calls for the scanning of all cargo on passenger planes within the next 3 years.” (SecurityInfoWatch.com) [Emphasis added.] However, according to the Center for American Progress, this cannot be achieved within 3 years because the emphasis is on the wrong cargo and TSA lacks the existing resources to do it.

Now, another problems has cropped up. Many airplanes are sent to foreign repair shops for service, where they could be sabotaged. “Some repair facilities are operated by large manufacturers such as Pratt & Whitney and Boeing. Others are small businesses in countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.” The TSA has no security rules for these facilities although Congress ordered them to do so 4 years ago. (USA Today)

It’s almost impossible to figure out how much all this so-called “security” is costing us, but it’s clear it’s in the billions every year. So, why are we spending all this money if it isn’t making us safer? The obvious answer is that it makes us feel safe, whether we are or not. And that encourages air travel, which means the airline industry doesn’t go broke. So, we can probably view all the tax money as well as ticket prices as a subsidy for airlines. However, airlines aren’t the only corporations getting rich on our tax money. In 2005, Rani Cleetez, a research analyst with Frost & Sullivan, said, “TSA’s intense focus on airport security has created an unprecedented demand for equipment to safeguard airports from potential threats. With government expenditure for this purpose exceeding an estimated $12 billion at the nation’s 429 commercial airports since 9/11, this can only spell good news for airport security equipment companies.” (SecurityInfoWatch.com)  [Emphasis added.]

So, the next time you’re standing in line at the airport – in your stocking feet, taking your clothes off, placing your watch in a dish or your mascara in a plastic bag – take a look at the names on those big machines and know that all the inconvenience is for the benefit of their CEOs and shareholders, because little is being done for us.

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