After 9-11, the airline industry plummeted due to a new growth in the fear of flying. Passengers welcomed stricter safety policies with open arms. But, as the months passed and the traumatic effects of Sept. 11, 2001, grew dim, impatience with the exceedingly long lines, the slow process and concerns for individual privacy diminished the patience of American passengers.
Last month, two US-bound packages from Yemen carried explosives packed into printer toner. The United Arab Emirates uncovered one of the explosives in Dubai, while the United Kingdom confiscated the second bomb shortly after. According to a US official, the plan involved the parcels exploding in US planes on either the runway, or above US cities. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the bombs and threatened to continue their efforts. This sparked an increase in changes among many countries including the US, Britain, Germany and France. Airlines in the United Arab Emirates have joined other countries in their refusal to carry cargo from Yemen.
“The first layer is to isolate the Yemen case, and then see what the impact is, and then decide if that needs to be expanded to other countries,” security analyst Theodore Karasik told the Associated Press. However, these efforts seem too little to deteriorate al-Qaeda.
With the recent threat of terrorism renewing fears in American citizens, the US government and airports don’t just possess the right, they have an obligation to protect. That includes what some may consider an inconvenience or an invasion of privacy. Part of the new policy includes an enforcement of the “no fly” list while not impeding on innocents’ rights.
Although not everyone feels comforted by this new policy, it does help protect American citizens. Everything comes at a price, but people should feel comforted when their family member lands safely due to these policies.
Regardless of some critics of the airport security, 70 percent of the American public approves of the way the government currently protects air travel, according to USA Today.
While the airport process may cause frustration among even the most patient Americans, the fact remains that this protection far outweighs the potential consequences. At the end of the day, most people would rather get the chance to tell their family about how awful airport security was than not being able to tell anything at all.
Macy Walker is a public relations sophomore and may be reached at [email protected].
