TRAGEDY AND TRAVEL COSTS
BY JULIANNE MALVEAUX
A few months ago, I was at an African airport, overloaded with two large
carry-on bags and a purse. I knew that I was pushing the limit, but I was a
sister headed back from the Motherland, so what was I to do but shop? As
loaded down as I was as I prepared for my departure, my attention was riveted
by a store that displayed a few baubles and shells. So I left my bag in my
chair and rose to check the merchandise out.
I had hardly moved three steps when an armed security guard ran up to me
and hollered, in staccato tone, “Madame, where are you going without your
bags.” I was as laid back as he was hyper, so I smiled and said, “I’m just
walking over here to check out the jewelry.” “No,” he said, “You have to
take your bag with you.” I was still in friendly mode, and under the
illusion that this man could be charmed. “I’m just going over there,” I
said. “I won’t be but a minute.” He grabbed my arm so hard it hurt ten
minutes after he let go. “Do you see the sign,” he said, spinning me around.
“It says do not leave your bag unattended. If you leave your bag here, I
will have to confiscate it.” Chastened, I sat down and complained to another
passenger, “Well he didn’t have to be so mean.” The older woman, African and
clearly well traveled, smiled at me indulgently. “He is only doing his job,”
she said, “We have to worry about terrorists.”
I chafed for a while, but forgot the incident after I boarded the plane.
But it came roaring back to mind on September 11 when four planes were
hijacked, with two crashing into the World Trade Center, and one into the
Pentagon. It is rumored that the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania might
have been headed for Camp David. How did someone get on a plane with knives?
What kind of security lapses were there at Logan, Newark and Dulles
airports? I watched a security expert explain that “harmless looking knives”
(run that one by me again) might be allowed past airport security. And I
realized that the rest of the world has always been much more security
conscious than the United States is.
From a labor market perspective, it is also clear that we don’t place
much value on the security function at United States airports. The position
seems to be an entry-level position that doesn’t pay especially well, and to
borrow an adage, “You get what you pay for.” To be sure, we impatient
Americans don’t want more complicated security. But Tuesday’s events suggest
that we need more complicated security, and perhaps a better trained security
force.
We may also need to pay more money for our plane tickets. All summer
I’ve been inundated with e-mail offers for cheap tickets, opportunities to
cross the country and come back for less than $300. To be sure the fine
print makes these deals a bit less attractive than they seem. But how much
security can airlines really pay for when they are hawking cut-rate tickets.
Some airports have “facility surcharges” but they are rarely more than $4.
Are we skimping on security costs?
By converting airports into mini-malls, are we also increasing security
risks? At Washington DC’s National Airport, you can grab a good meal at
Legal Seafood’s or the California Pizza Kitchen, shop at a couple of
bookstores, and buy shoes, clothes, or leather goods. These stores are
successful because of enormous foot traffic, not only from passengers, but
also from their friends who come to the airport to shop and see them off.
While ticket holders have to be identified, those who travel with them do
not. The foot traffic that supplements an airport facility’s bottom line may
be inconsistent with the strict security needed, especially at this time.
The unfortunate conclusion is that air travel ought to cost us a bit more
than it does, both to defray increased security costs and to defray the lost
revenue that will come when airport foot traffic is restricted. This isn’t
good news for a frequent flyer like me, but it’s the reality that the rest of
the world has been dealing with for decades. The fight against international
terrorism isn’t a costless fight, and until now, the United States has used
its air of invincibility to avoid shouldering its burden. We paid a horrible
price to get a needed wake-up call.