Airport security has become a hotly debated issue in recent years. There are many people who complain that airport security is excessive. There are many who don’t think it is enough or failsafe. Whenever there’s a hijacking, a terror attack at an airport or terrorists manage to fly with or without weapons by hoodwinking the security, everyone blames the airport and aviation authorities. Those planning airport security actually have a thankless job. They get blamed for excess and they are treated with brickbats when something untoward happens. Is there an end or a resolution to the contentious matter? No one can tell but we can discuss the pros and cons of airport security.
List of Pros of Airport Security
1. Airport security is unavoidable.
You have to be subjected to security checks when you are travelling to a different country, state, city or even if you are just walking into an airport where the passengers would be queuing up to board flights. There is always a security risk. Over the last five decades, there have been numerous incidents that have made airport security mandatory. In the 21st century itself, there have been hijackings, plane bombings, incessant firing at airports and no one can forget 9/11 that claimed thousands of lives.
2. Airport security is multifaceted.
Airport security is not only necessary for safety but also to regulate movement of people, to keep a check on illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, to keep suspicious people under watch and to capture or arrest unscrupulous people. From drug peddlers to murderers, financial fraudsters to serial offenders of myriad crimes, airport security can help the law enforcement agencies.
Airport security has created thousands of jobs in the last two decades. Every major airport has a massive security deployment. It is not just the security guards at the checkpoints but also the backend team, the research and development team, the manufacturing jobs and the industries associated with airport security.
List of Cons of Airport Security
1. One major complaint is that airport security is excessive today and that it is needless.
It can be argued that the perennially stringent and the heightened airport security all the time is rather invasive for private citizens or ordinary fliers. Surely, there is no need to strip ordinary citizens, to subject them to humiliating scans and interrogation that make them feel like petty criminals or terrorists.
2. Airport security is expensive.
It is deemed by many as a waste of public and private funds. Eventually, the costs trickle down to hit the common flier. Whether it is an airline or the aviation authority, the state or the federal exchequer, it is eventually the ticket prices or the taxes that go into funding airport security.
3. Airport security is inconvenient for most people.
Fliers miss their flights due to delays, there are misunderstandings, wrongful detaining and a horde of other complications that arise owing to the excessive airport security.