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Airport security
機場安全
Checkpoint challenge
安檢點的挑戰(zhàn)
A former TSA boss wants to bring down the curtain on "security theatre"
前交通安全部長希望終止無用的安檢措施
"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.
旅客常常抱怨飛行不再有趣。他們悵然回憶起飛行的黃金時期，那時坐飛機光彩照人，而不是長長的隊伍和煩擾的搜身帶來的痛苦。
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".
在美國，這些痛苦都是由美國運輸安全管理局造成的，交通安全局是2001年9月11日的恐怖襲擊后設立的，該機構(gòu)現(xiàn)在是美國最討人厭的機構(gòu)之一。許多旅客嘲笑那些挑剔的規(guī)章制度，許多旅客抱怨安全措施毫無效果。上月在經(jīng)濟學人的網(wǎng)上辯論中，壓倒性的87%的應答者同意2001年以來機場安檢措施的改變"適得其反"。
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.
提出反對動議這一不可能任務的人是前美國運輸安全管理局局長基普?霍利。他也樂意承認機場安檢需要改革。4月14日，霍利先生在華爾街日報的一篇文章中就此問題提出了一些有益的提議。
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.
這些提議中，航空公司可能不會喜歡的是停止對受檢行李收費。霍利先生表示這會阻止旅客拖著所有行李通過安檢，從而提高效率。但是航空公司依靠這筆數(shù)以十億計的費用。游說集團國際航空運輸協(xié)會爭辯說，2000年中期在大多數(shù)航空公司對行李收費之前，安檢點已經(jīng)拖延很厲害了。
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.
霍利先生同樣會允許飛行時攜帶所有液體，但是這些旅客可能需要排隊檢測。（歐盟打算明年開始這一舉措。）他同樣會取消對刀具和打火機等物品的禁令。更厚實的機艙門使得利用武器挾持飛機更為艱難。運輸安全管理局的測試發(fā)現(xiàn)安檢人員忙于尋找打火機以及其他瑣碎的違禁品而忽略放置在附近的仿真炸彈部件。
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，總的來說，例行的嚴格安檢有利于恐怖分子，他們圍繞這些措施做文章。所以安檢措施應該隨機化，而不是讓每個人接受同樣的安檢措施。但是他并不支持航空公司很熱心的一項改革措施："旅客白名單"計劃，受過審查的旅客會免除大多數(shù)安檢。霍利曾經(jīng)喜歡這一想法，現(xiàn)在卻擔心恐怖組織會招募那些通過審查的"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 .
國際航空運輸協(xié)會則認為如果審查夠徹底，而且一些受信任的旅客隨機安檢，這個問題可以克服。航空公司同樣提議整合登記簽到，安檢，護照管理和海關(guān)檢查成為無縫銜接的未來安檢點。但是說服政府部門統(tǒng)同意這一舉措將會像要求鬣狗分享牛排一樣不可能。
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.
即使實行所有的這些改革措施，使飛行重新變得有趣還需要做很多工作。航空公司需要恢復寬大的座位，提供免費的食物飲料。令人生厭的安全演習和嚴格的安全帶規(guī)則統(tǒng)統(tǒng)廢除，鬧哄哄的男性聚會和嚎啕大哭的孩子都不復存在。我們只能在夢中見到了。
