As for the long vital, but suddenly immediate issue of airline safety, we begin to suspect that Washington is content leaving the barn door wide open.
This is the nation where air piracy was invented. Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, we were among the most frequent victims of international terrorism. For all that, the security of our airports and of our skies has consistently lagged far behind that of our more pragmatic allies in Europe and the Middle East. The frightening, disturbing and infuriating part of it is, the flying public’s safety has been thus compromised for no better reason than the lobbying dollars of the airline industry.
The impetus of September 11th has altered this political landscape, but not drastically so. More than two months after that tragic day, Congress has finally passed legislation designed to upgrade airline and airport security. The bill features brilliant masterstrokes such as reinforced cockpit doors, an extension of the Air Marshal program, and – at long last – provisions for the federalization of baggage screeners.
That last issue was the sticking point, and the cause for a deeply divided Conference Committee ‘twixt the two houses of Congress, that has let this bill languish for so long. Opponents of federalization have argued that such a program would reap only a massive bureaucracy…as if in times of war it is not inevitable that the size of our government would swell. In truth, their intransigence can be traced to a much simpler reason: the two or three private companies that provide nearly all airport security in the U.S. are generous political donors. These companies—companies that pay poorly, train even worse, and have notoriously bad track records in the background screening of employees—were adamant that their cash cow remain solely in their hands. A handful of shameless U.S. representatives (the Senate passed 100-0 a version of the bill that included federalization) were willing to compromise the safety of their constituents for the sake of campaign donations.
Of course, the final bill was not a total victory for proponents of federalization; it allows individual airports to opt out of the program after two years. It also places the baggage screening program under the auspices of the Federal Aviation Administration, versus the Justice Department. The FAA, sad to say, has proven itself to be negligently malleable to the demands of the airline industry. It remains to be seen whether or not the FAA will carry out its new duties with the diligence they deserve.
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