The View From Here: Do more at airport to ensure safety
There have got to be mixed feelings from travelers who will be subjected to the government’s new system of checking background information and establishing a threat level for everyone who buys a plane ticket.
Having just flown to Chicago from Nashville during a heightened security alert for a friend’s wedding, I noticed security measures appeared to be less than desirable as they are.
Although I left home in plenty of time, I arrived at the long-term parking gate only to be faced by a blinking sign that said “ticket jam,” seriously delaying my arrival for check in.
After being directed to another parking lot, we had to take the shuttle to the terminals, which I believe takes longer than walking. When I arrived at the check-in point, having bought an e-ticket and after standing in line to get the boarding pass for a good deal longer, the man politely told me I would have to get my pass at the gate.
While in line, I was standing behind a man with a silver metal briefcase locked and taped shut with bright yellow tape. I couldn’t help but be suspicious of it. I began to rethink my wrapped wedding gift in my carry on and the fact it could be opened, but no one ever opened the briefcase.
When it was my turn at the counter and I realized with relief that the man with the briefcase wouldn’t be on my flight, I was told I would have to get the pass at the gate. I quickly made my way through the airport and through security checkpoints without a boarding pass, something the Chicago-land people found amazing and coincidentally, I understand, is being changed.
I narrowly made the gate and the woman there explained there were only four seats left, even though I purchased the ticket on-line more than a month ago. Since the parking fiasco in the parking lot left me with much less than two hours and this is the second time I’ve gotten through in less than that amount of time, I believe they’re doing the same amount of checking as they have in the past.
Following a bumpy flight where a woman screamed on a less-than-perfect landing, I was simply relieved to be on the ground again. And had I not flown recently, I would have taken the news of the new color coded boarding pass system much like everyone else – with a grain of salt.
If plans for the system are fully implemented, passes will be color coded based partially on banking information. Travelers will be assessed as green, yellow or red risks, and passes will be encrypted with these codes. Green is a go. Yellow gets extra screening and red is a no go.
Since I don’t have millions in my account, I’m not worried about being financially labeled as a terrorist. But what caught my eye was the idea that purchasing a one-way ticket with cash will raise eyebrows. I remembered that I did that once, and since I was in the military at the time, I would have been highly offended if someone would have coded my pass red.
My point is this: If airports are not checking suspicious baggage, are letting people with e-tickets get through security without boarding passes, letting someone board with less than 30 seconds (at the final gate) to spare and not opening the wrapped wedding present I brought with me, then I doubt a color coding system is going to do much more than be irritating and quite possibly wrong.
Although I appreciated making the flight on time and I depend on air travel to see friends and family, when I hear about this new system all I can do is think that they need a lot more eyeballs at the airports, not necessarily computers, to ensure travelers’ safety.
(Amy Satterwhite is a reporter for the Standard. She can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)