While some European airlines and Air Canada were detailing new TSA-imposed restrictions in response to the Christmas-morning terrorism incident onboard Northwest Airlines flight 253, there was scant information on the TSA website two days later about the new wrinkles other than to say that, “The Department of Homeland Security immediately put additional screening measures into place — for all domestic and international flights — to ensure the continued safety of the traveling public.”
The primary security changes visible to the public — at least for international flights bound for the U.S. — were that passengers would be restricted to one carry-on bag and would be subject to longer screening times.
There were unconfirmed reports that passengers on inbound international flights, at least, would not be allowed to wander about the cabin, grab items from overhead bins one hour prior to landing, or place blankets on their laps, as suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly did.
The one-hour before landing restriction defies logic. Yes, the suspect allegedly sought to blow up the Delta/Northwest flight just before landing in Detroit, but might not future terrorists adapt to the new restrictions and try to do their thing a couple of hours earlier in the flight?
It remains to be seen what impact the limit of one carry-on bag and the new security measures will have on air travel if they become permanent.
Certainly, the incident was an untimely one for the travel industry as it struggles to turn the corner and recover.
If people continue to travel at current or greater levels than today,one unintended consequence is that the carry-on bag restrictions may mean more fee revenue for airlines, or conversely it could dissuade budget-conscious travelers, including families, from booking airline tickets at all.
For a family of four, if each passengers checks one bag which they might previously have stuck in an overhead bin, the extra fees might mean an additional $200 or more toward the cost of a roundtrip flight.
One of the ironies of the incident is that Schiphol Airport, where flight 253 originated, is said to have fairly strict screening and security measures in place.
So, how did the suspect talk his way past screeners in Amsterdam — or was he interviewed at all?
One of the most disturbing security aspects of the incident is that Abdulmutallab had come to the attention of U.S. intelligence agencies at least several weeks ago, but his name was missing in action on no-fly lists — and he apparently wasn’t even flagged for secondary screening.
In the U.S., this sort of the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing among intelligence agencies was supposed to have vanished with greater coordination after 9/11, so this lack of intelligence-sharing or actions will need to be examined.
The TSA is well into the process of transitioning responsibility for matching no-fly lists with flight manifests from airlines to the TSA as part of its Secure Flight program, and began requiring travelers to provide their date of birth and gender when booking flights.
This seemingly was intended to streamline control of the no-fly lists and fine-tune data collection, but wouldn’t have addressed the Northwest incident because the suspect apparently never made it onto a no-fly list.
Some counter-terrorism experts believe that security personnel at airports around the world should adopt the behavioral screening measures that the Israelis use, and speculate whether Abdulmutallab would have been able to talk his way through such a screening techniques with the pressure of knowing that he allegedly had the explosive, pentaerythritol, sewn into his underwear.
Because rigorous pat-downs of passengers on a mass scale are impractical and undesirable, look for increased use of so-called strip-search machines — devices using millimeter wave passenger imaging technology — at airports around the world despite their intrusive aspects.
After all, magnetometers are severely limited in that they can detect guns and metals, but can’t expose plastic explosives, powders or liquids concealed on a terrorist’s body.
Another irony of the heightened security measures is they are being introduced a few months after the Registered Traveler program appears to have lost its juice with the demise of Clear.
Some airlines now are advising passengers to arrive 3 to 3-and-a-half hours before their flights, so speeding Registered Travelers through some of those security lanes would have looked all the more appealing these days.
Many people feel that airport security measures already were over the top even before the Northwest flight 253 incident.
Security officials will have to make compelling arguments that they are installing effective counter-terrorism measures if they hope to mute some of that criticism.
Spirit Airlines, which only weeks ago resolved the carry-on bag crisis, has moved on to new frontiers and now has negotiated an end to the onboard reclining seats wars.
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