"Airport Security in America is a Sham . . ."

(MoneyWatch)  Here's a good article from the November edition of the Atlantic about the sham that they say is airport security. It's a good read about what's wrong with airport security today.

The Things He Carried by Jeffrey Goldberg In the article, Mr Goldberg speaks with security guru Bruce Schneier on one side and the TSA's chief Kip Hawley on the other. It's clear that he sides with Mr Schneier from the very beginning, and for good reason. In Bruce Schneier's view, "Only two things have made flying safer: the reinforcement of cockpit doors, and the fact that passengers know now to resist hijackers." He's convinced that the country would be better off going back to security as it was on September 10, 2001 and spending "the rest of your money on intelligence, investigations, and emergency response."

Now if he's referring solely to airport security, then I agree. Taking our shoes off, limiting our liquids . . . all of that is reacting to something that's already happened and likely would not be repeated by a smart terrorist. I would, however, like to think that there is some good money already being thrown at intelligence and investigations. That being said, it is frightening to think that something as important as employee, passenger, and aircraft safety is almost completely out of the control of the the airlines that rely on its successful implementation every day.

It's easy to sit back and trust that the government is doing everything right, but there's certainly room for airlines to look at being more proactive. Whether it's closer cooperation with the TSA or implementation of its own regimen (a la Israeli airline El Al), airlines or all sizes and locations should be thinking about whether they're comfortable with the level of security that they're experiencing today and whether or not they should be doing more.