26 Security Screening in Airports
Emily Kneller
26.1 Introduction
Keywords
- Computed Tomography (CT) systems: similar to what is used in the medical field; machine capable of producing 3D X-ray scans
- Explosive Detection Systems (EDS): a machine that can detect explosives hidden in checked baggage
- Magnetometers: another name for metal detectors; a technological device used to detect anything made of metal
- Millennials: the group of people born between the time period that roughly spans from 1981-1996
- Millimeter wave machines: screening technology that looks for hazardous objects on passengers through low-energy non-ionizing waves
- Transportation Security Administration (TSA): an agency part of the United States Department of Homeland Security that overlooks and regulates security in transportation systems
- 9/11: Al Queda-coordinated terrorist attacks on the U.S. through hijacked commercial airplanes that killed 2,996 people
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
- Recall the defining event initiating the boom in airport security technologies
- Differentiate between pre-9/11 and post-9/11 airport screening
- Explain the consequences on the millennial generation
- Identify the continued technological evolution up to present day
“Denver, CO: Airport, Security lines” by Diane Cordell is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
“Okay… We need to get to the airport at 6:30 A.M. so we have an hour and a half to get through security before the flight at 8 A.M.” To the most recent generations, security checkpoints are a routine part of the travel experience. Security lines can range from ten minutes to an hour because of unpredictable airport busyness during your flight. As a result, individuals build in extra time before their departure to account for how long airport security may take that day.
If you lived through the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, this “routine” would not have always been normal. If you were young at the time of this event, you experienced the drastic changes in airport security shortly after and were forever changed by it. Therefore, millennials are most impacted by airport screening technologies. The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 created the necessity for advanced technologies like passenger and baggage screening to increase airport security, which benefited the millennial generation but is accompanied by adverse consequences on the traveling experience.
26.2 What is Passenger and Baggage screening?
Key Takeaway
26.2.1 Passenger Screening
“Airport Security” by Piotrus is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
In airports worldwide, individuals walk through magnetometers, also known as metal detectors, to be scanned before being able to enter onto aircraft. Magnetometers uncover metal objects by creating a magnetic field through electric currents and low-energy non-ionizing radiation (EPA, 2022). The magnetic field will reflect to the detector if anything with metal