Re: Airport security [no such thing]

Recall that all security is economics.  The airlines want the
appearance of security without having to pay for it.

	The '3 questions' ("Pack your luggage?  let it out of your
sight?  Taking any gifts?") originated with El Al, where they are the
introduction to a very expensive (and privacy invading) set of
screening questions.  The El Al people are trained to watch you as
they ask the questions, and respond to signs of lying or rehersal.
The Americans read the questions off the screen, and pay no attention
to your answers.

	The market, however, is irrational*, and airlines prefer to
have government imposed regulations over having to actually figure out
what works, and do it.

	*The market is irrational because statistics on what airlines
are safer than others is closely held knowledge of the FAA.

Adam


Alan Bostick wrote:

| She presented the gate agent with *four* tickets and *four* IDs.  "Where
| are these other people?" the agent asked.  "They're parking the car,"
| said the traveler.  The agent gave her all four boarding passes; and my
| companion and I were bumped to the third boarding group.
| 
| The woman in front of us was white and middle-class-looking, traveling
| with what appeared to be her family.  One wonders what would have
| happened were she a swarthy man wearing robes and a burnoose.  Or if she
| were just wearing shabby clothes. 

-- 
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once."
					               -Hume

Adam Shostack writes:
 
> 	The '3 questions' ("Pack your luggage?  let it out of your
> sight?  Taking any gifts?") originated with El Al, where they are the
> introduction to a very expensive (and privacy invading) set of
> screening questions.  The El Al people are trained to watch you as
> they ask the questions, and respond to signs of lying or rehersal.
> The Americans read the questions off the screen, and pay no attention
> to your answers.

Some airlines here in the US have set up "check in" terminals
near the gate so you can check in there instead of having to
deal with human beings at the desk.  The terminal asks the
magic three questions.  No chance for seeing someone's reaction
to the questions there (unless of course there's a hidden camera 
pointed at the terminal, or some sort of biometric device attached).

One time I asked a ticket guy if he's ever had anyone say "yes" to
the magic questions, his answer was that the one time it happened 
the person turned out to be an FAA three-questions enforcement squad
conducting a check.


-- 
Eric Murray  ericm@lne.com  ericm@motorcycle.com  http://www.lne.com/ericm
PGP keyid:E03F65E5 fingerprint:50 B0 A2 4C 7D 86 FC 03  92 E8 AC E6 7E 27 29 AF

At 09:23 PM 1/20/97 -0500, you wrote:
>	Recall that all security is economics.  The airlines want the
>appearance of security without having to pay for it.
>
>	The '3 questions' ("Pack your luggage?  let it out of your
>sight?  Taking any gifts?") originated with El Al, where they are the
>introduction to a very expensive (and privacy invading) set of
>screening questions.  The El Al people are trained to watch you as
>they ask the questions, and respond to signs of lying or rehersal.
>The Americans read the questions off the screen, and pay no attention
>to your answers.

True, however the number of questions asked by El Al decreases amazingly
when you answer in Hebrew, however that did not stop me being addressed by
five security personnel after a trip where had been doing a photo
documentary and was still wearing a photo vest full of black metal
cannisters (lenses). Of course when the security head finally approached me
I used Hebrew and that was then end of the episode. Unfortunately speaking
English is not a very good determination of airline safety.

	Adam Esq.



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