As the United States nears the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks — a date al-Qaeda has said offers a potential opportunity to strike the country again — security at airports across the United States reminds travelers of the changes implemented over the past 10 years to prevent another violent attack.

In the wake of 9/11, President George W. Bush signed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act into law on Nov. 19, 2001. The law gave the federal government responsibility for airport screening and established the Transportation Security Administration to oversee security.

With the anniversary only three days away, the TSA is increasing security and monitoring situations as they develop, said Lisa Farbstein, TSA spokeswoman.

‘The threats are still there,’ she said. ‘But we’ve improved our process, we’ve improved technology, and we have improved the quality of people we have on our workforce. And so we are better equipped to detect and deter an attack now than we’ve ever been.’

The security efforts begin when a person purchases a ticket. When travelers buy a ticket online, they enter their name, date of birth and gender. The TSA then runs that person’s name against multiple lists, Farbstein said.

Upon arriving at the airport, travelers will notice the security outside and leading to the airport. The TSA also has officials such as behavior detection officers, K-9 teams and document checkers, Farbstein said.

Once travelers reach the checkpoint, a conveyor belt screens items for explosive devices, she said. Meanwhile, agents check travelers’ baggage while other officials view the checked luggage a second time for explosives, Farbstein said.

The TSA also uses random screening before travelers are allowed onto the airplane, she said.

‘You never know what tool that we’re going to be using that day. Are we going to be using the K-9s that day?’ Farbstein said. ‘Are we going to be doing swabbing of your baggage or your hands that day? Sometimes we do an extra check of your boarding pass right there at the gate before you walk onto the airplane.’

The agency will focus more on people it has less information about, as those travelers are considered a higher risk than people the agency is familiar with, Farbstein said. The TSA is looking at speeding up screening for some travelers, she said.

But the sometimes lengthy security checks at airports haven’t frustrated some of SU’s top officials.

Kevin Quinn, SU’s senior vice president for public affairs, said he travels by plane about eight to 10 times per year for work and personal reasons. Quinn made work-related trips to Dubai and Istanbul this summer.

Quinn said he was once in line behind a man during one of the checks and watched as the man emptied his pockets and put a jackknife in the bin typically used to store change and wristwatches as passengers walk through a metal detector.

‘And he just put it in there like it was a quarter, and he was shocked that he couldn’t bring it through,’ he said.

Lou Marcoccia, SU’s chief financial officer and executive vice president, travels by plane less than five times per year, but he is familiar with the security functions.

Before 9/11, Marcoccia said he was coming back from an NCAA Tournament game once and there was a bomb scare on the plane, causing security officials to bring in dogs to inspect the plane. After the check, Marcoccia didn’t feel uneasy about boarding the plane.

‘You put all your trust and faith that it’s going to go from here and get there,’ he said. ‘You do the same thing when you get in a cab at the airport and some stranger is driving you downtown, so there’s certain things that you just say, ‘Please God, let me get there.”

jdharr04@syr.edu

Published on September 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jon: jdharr04@syr.edu