2001: 9/11 Attacks Renewed Concerns over Airline Security

The 'weaponization' of passenger planes and the lethality of the attacks led to several innovations in airline security.

The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, put into place in November, 2001, transferred responsibility for airline security to the newly created Transportation Security Administration. Airport security staff were federalized.

More radical attempts to ensure that passengers are who they say they are and should be allowed to travel are unquestionably on the way. These include will include both high-tech biometric tactics to identify passengers, and low-tech passenger profiling, which attempts to identify potential terrorists based on profiles.

What Travelers May Expect

• Passenger Profiling
• Iris Scanning
• Retinal Scanning
• Camera Surveillance

Resources for Travelers:

• Top 5 State Department Travel Safety Sources