Business

商业

Airport security

机场安全

Checkpoint challenge

安检点的挑战

A former TSA boss wants to bring down the curtain on "security theatre"

前交通安全部长希望终止无用的安检措施

"FLYING isn’t fun any more," is a popular refrain among travellers. They recall wistfully a golden age when flying was glamorous, not an ordeal of long lines and intrusive pat-downs.

旅客常常抱怨飞行不再有趣。他们怅然回忆起飞行的黄金时期，那时坐飞机光彩照人，而不是长长的队伍和烦扰的搜身带来的痛苦。

In America these are inflicted by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which was set up after the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001. It is now one of the country’s most hated institutions. Many passengers scorn its pettifogging rules. Many complain of ineffectual "security theatre ". In an Economist online debate last month, a crushing 87% of respondents agreed that the changes to airport security since 2001 had "done more harm than good".

在美国，这些痛苦都是由美国运输安全管理局造成的，交通安全局是2001年9月11日的恐怖袭击后设立的，该机构现在是美国最讨人厌的机构之一。许多旅客嘲笑那些挑剔的规章制度，许多旅客抱怨安全措施毫无效果。上月在经济学人的网上辩论中，压倒性的87%的应答者同意2001年以来机场安检措施的改变"适得其反"。

The man given the impossible task of opposing the motion was Kip Hawley, a former TSA boss. Even he readily admitted that airport security needed reforming. And on April 14th, writing in the Wall Street Journal, Mr Hawley offered some sensible proposals on how to do it.

提出反对动议这一不可能任务的人是前美国运输安全管理局局长基普?霍利。他也乐意承认机场安检需要改革。4月14日，霍利先生在华尔街日报的一篇文章中就此问题提出了一些有益的提议。

One idea the airlines will not like is to stop them charging for checked bags. Mr Hawley says this would speed things up by discouraging flyers from dragging all their stuff through security. But carriers have come to rely on such fees, which rake in billions. IATA , their lobby group, argues that, in any case, checkpoint delays were already lengthy in the mid-2000s, before most airlines charged bag fees.

这些提议中，航空公司可能不会喜欢的是停止对受检行李收费。霍利先生表示这会阻止旅客拖着所有行李通过安检，从而提高效率。但是航空公司依靠这笔数以十亿计的费用。游说集团国际航空运输协会争辩说，2000年中期在大多数航空公司对行李收费之前，安检点已经拖延很厉害了。

Mr Hawley would also allow all liquids on flights, though those choosing to carry them might have to join a queue to have them scanned (something the European Union intends to start doing next year). He would also lift the bans on such things as knives and lighters. Stronger cockpit doors have made it much harder to use weapons to bring down a flight. And tests run by the TSA found that officers were so busy hunting for lighters and other fairly trivial banned items that they overlooked dummy bomb parts placed nearby.

霍利先生同样会允许飞行时携带所有液体，但是这些旅客可能需要排队检测。(欧盟打算明年开始这一举措。)他同样会取消对刀具和打火机等物品的禁令。更厚实的机舱门使得利用武器挟持飞机更为艰难。运输安全管理局的测试发现安检人员忙于寻找打火机以及其他琐碎的违禁品而忽略放置在附近的仿真炸弹部件。

In general, says Mr Hawley, predictable and rigid checks help terrorists: they design plots around them. So instead of subjecting everyone to the same checks, security should be randomised. However, he does not back one reform that the airlines are keen on: a "trusted traveller" scheme in which flyers who have been vetted are spared most checks. Mr Hawley, who once liked the idea, now worries that terror groups are recruiting "clean" agents who would pass such vetting.

霍利先生表，总的来说，例行的严格安检有利于恐怖分子，他们围绕这些措施做文章。所以安检措施应该随机化，而不是让每个人接受同样的安检措施。但是他并不支持航空公司很热心的一项改革措施："旅客白名单"计划，受过审查的旅客会免除大多数安检。霍利曾经喜欢这一想法，现在却担心恐怖组织会招募那些通过审查的"清白"恐怖分子。

IATA thinks that if vetting were thorough, and a few trusted travellers were checked at random, this problem could be overcome. The airlines also propose merging check-in, security, passport control and customs inspection into a seamless "checkpoint of the future". But getting government agencies to agree to such a move will be like asking hyenas to share a steak .

国际航空运输协会则认为如果审查够彻底，而且一些受信任的旅客随机安检，这个问题可以克服。航空公司同样提议整合登记签到，安检，护照管理和海关检查成为无缝衔接的未来安检点。但是说服政府部门统同意这一举措将会像要求鬣狗分享牛排一样不可能。

Even if all these reforms were introduced, far more would have to be done to make flying fun once more. Airlines would need to bring back wide seats and generous meals and drinks. Tedious safety drills and strict seat-belt rules would have to go, as would rowdy stag parties and wailing children. One can but dream.

即使实行所有的这些改革措施，使飞行重新变得有趣还需要做很多工作。航空公司需要恢复宽大的座位，提供免费的食物饮料。令人生厌的安全演习和严格的安全带规则统统废除，闹哄哄的男性聚会和嚎啕大哭的孩子都不复存在。我们只能在梦中见到了。