After years of warnings, emphasis is seen shifting from flier convenience to safety.
By Alexandra Marks, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor / September 13, 2001
NEW YORK
Make no mistake about it, after last Tuesday traveling in America will never be the same.
For the past decade, as concern about terrorism increased, then ebbed, along with its presence in the headlines, security at the nation's airports has increased in some measure.
But it has never reached the levels recommended by security experts and commissions set up in the wake of the 1988 bombing of PanAm Flight 103 and the loss of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.
Indeed, even with all of the screenings, baggage searches, identification checks, and metal detectors, some experts contend security at the nation's airports is often as loose as a sieve. Government inspectors routinely foil the system, carrying on knives and guns and snooping around in secure areas.
Part of the problem is Americans themselves. They have proved to be an impatient lot - particularly as congestion has increased delays at the nation's airports. They value freedom, convenience, and low-cost flights - and increased security muscles in on all three of those priorities.
