Airports in most countries and particularly in the US are busy places. Movement of people and transport of goods characterize most air terminals. The busy nature of the airports has resulted in some individuals taking advantage of the system to carry out terrorist activities (Elias, 2013). Terrorist attacks in this perspective include direct attacks on the airports or sneaking weapons and explosives into planes. The airport security is not only a concern of the airport authorities but also a concern of the government. In an attempt to improve the safety of the passengers and its facilities, airport authority usually screens all cargo moving in and out of the airport thoroughly.
Despite conducting screening to air cargo, experts argue that it is impossible to achieve 100 percent screening to all air cargo. Planes continue to be hijacked and bombed despite the strict measures. Various reasons have been brought forth regarding the loopholes that exist in air transport. The first reason concerns logistics. Though most airports have installed latest screening equipment, the cost of such equipment makes airport authorities to install only a few of them hence cannot efficiently screen high quantities of cargo (Thomas, 2016). In airports that resolve to do a physical screening, they also cannot afford to employ security staff commensurate with a large number of passengers and cargo. Human beings are also prone to exhaustion hence may not be keen at some time. The time factor has also been noted to contribute to air transport insecurity (Elias, 2013). Individuals stationed at various screening points sometimes rush to meet timelines so that passengers and cargo can be moved in time. At such moments, mistakes tend to occur thus leaving a chance for malicious individuals to infiltrate dangerous weapons to the airports and aircrafts.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Summarily, although new and stringent measures are being put in place to ensure the safety of passengers as well as airport facilities, terrorists continue to use loopholes in the air transport industry to carry out their activities. Managing factors such as logistics and time has been a major challenge to most air transport industries, hence the attacks.
References
Elias, B. (2013). Aviation Security: Background and policy options for screening and securing Air Cargo. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON DC CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE.
Thomas, A. R. (2016). Aviation insecurity: The new challenges of air travel . Prometheus Books.
