Two million people fly commercially every day in the United States, and every single passenger must interact with members of airport security. Why do travelers put up with long lines and invasive screenings? Why do Transportation Security Administration officers (TSOs) put up with the disrespect and anger directed at them? Shawna Malvini Redden asked these questions for years—interviewing passenger and security officers alike, taking note of everything from carry-on bananas to passengers who fumed when their water bottles were confiscated. Malvini Redden encountered a range of passengers: the entitled business travelers; the parents with toddlers; the hot mess, travels-once-a-year, can’t-figure-out-how-to-get-through-the-security-checkpoint-without-crying flier. The answers, Malvini Redden admitted, were far more complex than she anticipated. 101 Pat-Downs is the story of Malvini Redden’s research journey, part confessional, part investigative research, and part light-hearted social commentary. In it she illuminates common experiences in airport security checkpoints specifically focused on emotion and identity, presenting the inside scoop on airport security interactions via her experiences and those of passengers and TSOs. Along the way Malvini Redden introduces common characters of airport security, humanizing the stereotypically gruff TSO and explaining in a social-science framework why so many passengers feel nervous inside TSA checkpoints. Ultimately, Malvini Redden shows how people navigate communication in complex interpersonal situations and offers research-driven suggestions for improving interactions for passengers and TSOs alike.

The Definitive Handbook on Terrorist Threats to Commercial Airline and Airport SecurityConsidered the definitive handbook on the terrorist threat to commercial airline and airport security, USAF Lieutenant Colonel Kathleen Sweet‘s seminal resource is now updated to include an analysis of modern day risks. She covers the history of aviation security

The response of the U.S. federal government to the events of September 11, 2001 has reflected the challenge of striking a balance between implementing security measures to deter terrorist attacks while at the same time limiting disruption to air commerce. Airport and Aviation Security: U.S. Policy and Strategy in the Age of Global Terrorism is a co

Practical Aviation Security: Predicting and Preventing Future Threats, Third Edition is a complete guide to the aviation security system, from crucial historical events to the policies, policymakers, and major terrorist and criminal acts that have shaped the procedures in use today, as well as the cutting edge technologies that are shaping the future. This text equips readers working in airport security or other aviation management roles with the knowledge to implement effective security programs, meet international guidelines, and responsibly protect facilities or organizations of any size. Using case studies and practical security measures now in use at airports worldwide, readers learn the effective methods and the fundamental principles involved in designing and implementing a security system. The aviation security system is comprehensive and requires continual focus and attention to stay a step ahead of the next attack. Practical Aviation Security, Third Edition, helps prepare practitioners to enter the industry and helps seasoned professionals prepare for new threats and prevent new tragedies. - Covers commercial airport security, general aviation and cargo operations, threats, threat detection and response systems, as well as international security issues - Lays out the security fundamentals that can ensure the future of global travel and commerce - Applies real-world aviation experience to the task of anticipating and deflecting threats - Includes updated coverage of security related to spaceport and unmanned aerial systems, focusing on IACO (International Civil Aviation Organization) security regulations and guidance - Features additional and updated case studies and much more

As international terrorism has grown over the past decades, airlines and airports have become increasingly popular targets for violent attacks and hijackings. In this volume, Peter St. John provides a survey of international air piracy and airline terrorism, and of the ways airline professionals and governments are coping, or attempting to cope, with the crisis. St. John not only deals with the history, politics, psychology, and sociology of air piracy, but also provides an assessment of the threat to commercial aircraft and ways to counter the danger. The principal theme he develops is that security for airports and aircraft can be achieved, and the fear of terrorists overcome, if Western countries cooperate in installing effective security policies and plans. St. John begins his work with a two-chapter history of the evolution of hijacking, tracing the five-to-seven-year cycles that seem to have emerged and the growth of the politically motivated hijacking that has become the most persistent and dangerous form. He next analyzes the eight types of individuals who have hijacked aircraft in the past, their different motives, and how they can be identified by airport security and flight crews. A major chapter discusses the politics of Western governments toward highjacking in Europe and North America, and identifies the best and worst airports around the globe. A seven-stage system of security that will probably be a necessity for the 1990s is also proposed. Ensuing chapters address the problem of the hijacked plane, offering advice for passengers and crew members who are victims of hijacking, and for government behavior, which often does more to encourage air terrorism than to prevent it. Finally, St. John looks to the future of airport security and describes the need for a concentrated attempt at all levels of national and international government to develop effective defenses against air piracy. A group of appendices is also included, documenting the principal hijacks of the past forty years as well as sabotage attempts on commercial aircraft. This work will be an important reference tool for professionals in security services and the airline and airport management field, and for students in political science and international relations courses. It will also be a valuable addition to college, university, and public libraries.

At the airport we line up, remove our shoes, empty our pockets, and hold still for three seconds in the body scanner. Deemed safe, we put ourselves back together and are free to buy the beverage we were prohibited from taking through security. In The Transparent Traveler Rachel Hall explains how the familiar routines of airport security choreograph passenger behavior to create submissive and docile travelers. The cultural performance of contemporary security practices mobilizes what Hall calls the "aesthetics of transparency." To appear transparent, a passenger must perform innocence and display a willingness to open their body to routine inspection and analysis. Those who cannot—whether because of race, immigration and citizenship status, disability, age, or religion—are deemed opaque, presumed to be a threat, and subject to search and detention. Analyzing everything from airport architecture, photography, and computer-generated imagery to full-body scanners and TSA behavior detection techniques, Hall theorizes the transparent traveler as the embodiment of a cultural ideal of submission to surveillance.

Handbook of Checked Baggage Screening – Advanced Airport Security Operation is a practical guide for project managers and designers embarking on hold-baggage screening developments within the airport environment for the first time. The book clearly explains away any uncertainty about the processes and procedures to be used by the various parties involved within the industry and sets out ‘best practice’ with respect to checked baggage screening design. Valuable lessons can be learned from actual case studies contributed by leading equipment manufacturers on recent 100% hold baggage screening projects. In addition to the all-important security screening of baggage and passengers the book also looks at the following areas associated with airport security, through the use of a detailed structured security check-list evaluation questionnaire. The questionnaire allows airports to assess the state of readiness of their airports and then, using the other chapters, gain an insight regarding which technology will best solve any security gaps. The authors offer a unique perspective through their background and experience. Many of the checked baggage screening procedures and equipment discussed in the book have already been implemented in the UK, with the authors responsible for leading this effort. The combined experience they can offer to the industry world wide is invaluable.