Changes in the Duties and Operations of Airport Private Security Since 9/11

Airport Private Security Changes Since 9/11
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Airport Private Security Changes Since 9/11
Airport security has been an important legal premise that helps ensure that countries enjoy a well-coordinated airline system and that the country gets protection from probable external attacks. The September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks in the US developed a change in the legal provisions and standards that airports have to help in improving airline security. In fact, major changes such as contracting airport security to private contractors to TSA's active engagement in the airport security screening of passengers mark a legal stand view on how airport private security has experienced improvements since the 9/11 attacks. More so, it is interesting to appreciate how private security has experienced legal changes, comparing the before and after events, which indicates the vulnerabilities that existed in airport security before the 9/11 attacks (Al-Saad et al., 2019). Therefore, assessing the evolution of private security in airports from pre- to post-9/11 helps in appreciating the changes in the organizational framework in private and public sectors within the management of airport security from the 9/11 occurrences.
A major change in airport security was the composition and handling of airport security tasks. The 9/11 attacks were an eye-opener for the US to ensure that a more serious legal and operational approach was developed to handle airport security. In fact, before the 9/11 attacks, airport security was contracted to private security companies, which provided measures such as luggage screening using metal detectors and control of both human and airplane traffic (Klenka, 2019). However, two months after the 9/11 attack, drastic changes were effected in how airport security would be composed and handled. The US Congress developed and passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. The act led to a major operational and structural change in airport security that impacted private security measures. The act abolished the use of private security contractors in airport security and created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) (Klenka, 2019). The creation of the TSA meant that airport security was now made a federal issue, thus gaining more serious investments and concerns. The changes through TSA meant that the newly formed TSA was to handle all airport security, which helped in enhancing a well-coordinated airport security system across the US. For instance, an airport security threat in one airport in the US would trigger all other airport's security mechanisms under the TSA, thus boosting the overall country's airport security. (Klenka, 2019) The change in the introduction of TSA after the 9/11 attacks helped make it easy to track airport and airline trends, which are crucial in examining private and public security in airlines. Therefore, the change from the use of private security companies to the TSA through the Aviation and Transportation Security Act since 9/11 created an effective understanding of the importance of controlled airport security in the country in detecting and avoiding terrorist attacks.