Legislative Acts: The Aviation and Transportation Security Act

 Hello! This week I will be discussing the impact of the Aviation and Transportation Act of 2001. In my opinion, this act had one of the biggest impacts on aviation safety today.

Aviation security before 9/11 was weak to say the least. At the time, the responsibility of aviation security was put on the FAA, who already had a lot of other responsibilities to include rulemaking, implementing technological advancements, and making plans for future industry improvement (FAA, 2017). Security back then is unmatched for what it is today. 

I myself was born not too long before the acts of 9/11 so as a one-year-old, I never had an experience of what aviation security looked like back in the day. After some research, I was surprised. Before 9/11 there was supposedly no such thing as hours-long waits in the security line. You could simply walk through a security checkpoint and up to the gate within minutes without a boarding pass or identification (Schaper, 2021). There was no need to rush to take off your shoes or coats, or take out electronics and liquids from your bag; it was all very simple back then. Screening personnel were usually hired by the airlines and unfortunately were not trained to high standards, missing many dangerous objects through screening points. According to Dillingham, about 20% of dangerous objects hidden through the screening process would be undetected by personnel (2003). Security surrounding staff-only areas was also limited. A test was done with undercover agents utilizing fake badges and credentials (Dillingham, 2003). Those agents ended up getting through to the "secure" areas in which if they were real people of harm, they could've brought dangerous weapons and explosives onto the aircraft (Dillingham, 2003).

After the event of 9/11, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act was signed by President Bush. This act changed aviation security and created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), who now took the responsibility of aviation security from the FAA (FAA, 2017). The previous security personell was replaced by much more well trained workers appointed by TSA themself. Over the years since its introduction, TSA has improved and expanded tremendously. Some TSA implementations included (TSA, n.d.):

•  All baggage now goes through screening
• Cockpit doors remain shut and are reinforced in case of forced entry 
• You must take off shoes and coats for screening
• You must provide adequate identification and boarding pass to pass through security
• The 3-1-1 liquids rule was enforced
• Canine teams were introduced
• There was an increase in the amount of air marshalls on aircraft

 After the passage of this act and the implementation of TSA, aviation security was put at the upmost priority and as a result, it is one of the reasons air travel is one of the safest modes of trasportation today.

Dillingham, G. L. (2003, April 1). First public hearing of the national commision on terrorist attacks upon the united states. National Commision on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/hearings/hearing1/witness_dillingham.htm

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (2017, January 4). A Brief History of the FAA. https://www.faa.gov/about/history/brief_history/

Schaper, D. (2021, September 10). It was shoes on, no boarding pass or ID. But airport security changed forever on 9/11. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/10/1035131619/911-travel-timeline-tsa

Transportation Security Administration (TSA). (n.d.). Transportation Security Timeline. https://www.tsa.gov/timeline