4.1. Look through the text to find what it is about. Read the text paying attention to every detail. Safer by degrees

Terrorism has changed air travel dramatically. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has thousands of screeners and machines to detect weapons and explosives, but gaps remain:

CURBSIDE

• Improvement. National Guard troops now patrol airports.

• Problems. Curbside check-in, briefly suspended after 9/11, is again offered. The often hectic process at crowded airports can increase the potential for lethal suitcases to enter the system.

CHECK-IN

• Improvement. Identifications are closely checked at counters.

• Problems. The growing use of electronic tickets means a passenger without bags no longer has to stop at the counter to get a boarding pass, eliminating one layer of scrutiny.

SECURITY

• Improvement. Checked any carry-on bags are scanned and searched more often. The USA has installed explosives-detection systems at most commercial airports to screen checked bags and is testing phone-booth-size machines that use puffs of air to detect explosives residue on passengers.

• Problems. Private security companies are increasingly being used, diluting the TSA’s mandate and possibly creating greater vulnerability. Government reports have cited insufficient training and the need for better technology.

RESTAURANTS

• Improvement. The TSA grants varying levels of clearance to the mostly minimum-wage employees of airport stores.

• Problems. Boarding-area concessions can pose a serious threat. A restaurant worker, for example, could pass a knife to a passenger.

BOARDING

• Improvement. Only ticketed passengers and employees are allowed in boarding areas.

• Problems. Passengers connecting from smaller airports might have undergone less rigorous screening but still have full access to gates.

ON THE TARMAC

• Improvement. The process for obtaining worker credentials is tighter.

• Problem. Many people – including cleaners, caters, mechanics, refuelers and baggage handlers – have access to planes, and the grounds of a large airport can be difficult to secure. In 2030, for example, three fishermen wandered onto a runway at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and walked around for more than an hour until they sought police for an exit. At air-cargo facilities. Neither cargo nor personnel undergo the same scrutiny as airline passengers and their luggage.

None of the items newly banned by the TSA would explode if mixed. The fear is that those common containers could be refilled with bomb ingredients and carried openly onto aircraft, to be combined later.

• Good news. Liquid explosives tend to be quite volatile, and concocting a bomb on a plane in flight would be difficult, noxious job.

• Bad news. Explosives can be made to look like almost anything – drinks, paper, even a child’s toy. The use of machines that detect bombs and traces of explosives is spreading, but liquid-chemical sniffers aren’t in airports – yet.

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