It came to light last week – to our horror – that two separate groups of contracted JFK security officers filed complaints with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), citing problems with officials making employees cut corners when inspecting aircrafts and working within the terminals.
The groups claim that they are forced to perform the usually 30- to 40-minute inspections in 10; some even say they have had as little as three minutes.
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.
According to federal mandates, airport security personnel are to inspect each plane and search for items left behind, including threatening items such as weapons, drugs or explosives. They are expected to open every overhead bin, search each row, open every tray table and search all seat-back pockets.
We don’t know about you, but when we board a plane, we hope that each and every inch has been pored over, so that the safety and security of all passengers and staff is assured.
What’s worse, according to claims, is that many security officers receive little to no training before beginning work, and are also given inadequate or malfunctioning equipment.
And aside from security within the terminals, JFK International has also experienced troubles at security checkpoints for incoming passengers. This summer, a Long Island student made it through security with a large knife in his carry-on bag en route to Terminal 4. Tracking down the passenger took airport officials 10 minutes after he had left the gate.
Additionally, this past June, the TSA closed Terminal 7 for about two hours after discovering a metal detector had malfunctioned at a security checkpoint, and that passengers had already passed through without being properly screened, as reported by the Daily News. In such a situation, procedure mandates the terminal be emptied and all passengers re-checked.
In this post-9/11 world, there are no excuses for any lapse in security.
Queens, home to both JFK and LaGuardia Airports, is like the gateway to New York – to the world – and if safety standards are lax there, it is worrisome what might happen, either on the ground or in the air.
