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Obama administration enforces stringent regulations for air travel
by Ishita Sood - March 22, 2010 - comments
In a recent survey of more than 3,200 U.S. air travelers by travel Web site Trip Adviser, 39 percent said long security lines was the most annoying part of an airport.
U.S. Air travel will now be more stringent as the Obama government plans to take more measures to ensure the safety of passengers. Tens of millions of dollars will be deployed to add more screening equipments in various airports in and around the nation.
The Transportation Security Administration is making all these efforts due to the incident which happened during Christmas when a man was accused of hiding explosive in his underwear.
The new regulation will detect explosives and other dangerous objects more quickly.
“We have continued to express concerns about the use of these machines as a primary screener because it’s an invasion of privacy that isn’t necessary,” said Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.
The new regulation
The new security measures will include 44 full-image body scanners at 21 U.S. airports, a 10 percent increase from last Christmas. Each machine costs between $130,000 to $170,000.
“We have continued to express concerns about the use of these machines as a primary screener because it’s an invasion of privacy that isn’t necessary,” said Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.
Chicago's O'Hare and Boston's Logan airports will be the first to include them. More than 1,000 scanners will be added throughout the nation by the end of 2011. The new regulation will also include the use of swabs or Explosive Trace Detection machines.
The Transportation Security Administration is increasing security agents who will parole the security lines with portable machines. This in turn will help address issues related to security and detect traces of explosives.
New enforcement worry passengers
With the new enforcement taking place, passengers are now more worried as it will require more of their time than previously.
In a recent survey of more than 3,200 U.S. air travelers by travel Web site Trip Adviser, 39 percent said long security lines was the most annoying part of an airport.
Passengers will be required to choose between a body scan or pat down, which are of about duration of 30 seconds and two-to four-minutes respectively.
A software executive, Bob Thomas, had a gum wrapper made of aluminum foil in his pocket which set off a metal detector. Thomas was then followed up by a body image and a pat down.
“There is no justification for compelling people to go through a virtual strip search to go on an airplane,” said Yohnka.