Make Those Airports Tighter

Transportation Department investigators have exposed a number of inexcusable security lapses at some of the nation’s busiest airports, including repeats of weaknesses that a similar probe uncovered in 1993. The department’s inspector general faults the Federal Aviation Administration for being too slow to tighten access-control procedures and for lax oversight of implementation of existing controls. Intrusions of the kind done by federal investigators can presumably be done as well by terrorists, smugglers and other criminals. The security flaws that have been identified seem fixable, but this is a public safety concern of major importance. Pressure must be kept on the FAA to assure that all necessary measures are taken.

Some of the security breakdowns found by the investigators are mind-boggling. Not only were supposedly secure areas easily penetrated, but ticketless investigators were able to board “a substantial number” of U.S.- and foreign-operated airliners and take seats without being challenged. Over a five-month period the investigators breached airport security 117 times out of 173 attempts, a 68% success rate. The most successful method was simply to follow employees when they passed through secured doors.

The easiest corrective step is insistence on greater employee responsibility: making sure doors are closed and that anyone in a secure area has proper identification. The FAA says it will increase its surprise inspections and work more closely with airlines and airports to improve security. That of course is something it should have been doing all along, and especially after the security failures revealed in 1993. While the FAA monitors aviation, the Transportation Department and Congress should more carefully monitor the FAA.