This week has been a bit unusual for me. Although I have been traveling, I haven't been out of Britain, and it has allowed me to have a few nights in my own bed. You will know just how wonderful it is to get to your own home, sleep in your own bed ... and slob around in your pajamas. Wonderful!
Anyway, you don't want me rattling on about my domestic arrangements. Instead, I want to ask your opinion concerning airport security.
Last week I was flying through an airport in Thailand. I won't identify it because of the story I am about to relate.
Security at the front door was very good with all passengers and visitors undergoing searches. But once inside, there was a restaurant that had a window, through which just about anything could be passed through. Admittedly there were further security checks before boarding, but getting something nefarious into the terminal building was possible.
What should I do? I tried to point this out to the security personnel but they didn't speak English. Now I intend to write to the Airports of Thailand and give them the details.
Should I have done more at the time?
The point I am making here is that it is up to every one of us who travel to take some care for our own safety and be responsible. I am as impatient as the next person with officious rather than efficient security checks, especially by the Transport Security Administration (T.S.A.) in the United States, which often seems more like rules for rules' sake than actually using intelligence in the searches. But I will do my best, remove my shoes, take out my laptop, whistle the song of the day if I can see that it makes some sense.
And while I am on this subject, what is going on with the "laptop-in-laptop-out" rules? Earlier this year LHR became the latest major airport to require passengers to remove laptops from their bags and present them for separate security screening. Many airports do not have such a requirement. Does this make them less safe? I don't know!
An update on an earlier blog
You may remember I wrote at length about how annoyed I was at never getting the new Lufthansa (LH) bed despite having been promised it on so many flights. I have now had this experience. (LH from FRA-SIN with miles going into my UA account)
A very pleasant product it is too, with some nice touches such as the spectacles holder or the decent-sized pockets and very good inflight entertainment.
But -- and there had to be one -- the seat itself is a complicated piece, which is largely comfortable, but ultimately ends up as a slide when it turns into a bed. LH has decided to go for the angled lay-flat, not the flat bed, and as such it is saddled with a product which will never be as good as those on Virgin, BA or any other airline which goes for flat beds in business class. This is even more so on the long-haul, red-eye flights, which are the backbones of the intercontinental schedule.
The downside: Lufthansa's new seat features a headphone socket in the most fiddly place.
Oh and one other thing -- the headphone socket, pictured, is in the most extraordinarily difficult place to plug in. If you want to use your own headphones -- or if they just become unplugged -- it is a major operation delving into the depths of a deep pocket to find the socket; usually involving a fellow passenger, a flight attendant and a flashlight. A dreadful dreadful piece of design for which reason one can't imagine.
To be sure, the LH bed is better than Singapore Airline's "Space Bed," but not by much. Ultimately, the future for the business traveler paying mega premium prices is a fully flat bed. And I am surprised that LH didn't just lay down and do it!
Forum
From:Lily, Belgium Posted: August 3, 2006 Comment: I completely agree with your approach to the "window issue" in the airport: immediately alert officials to the problem and then write a letter to those higher up. In this situation, I'm not sure you could have done more. Even if the security agents spoke English, I'm not sure they would have closed the window -- too many people would have complained about the heat, and with no rules against having the window open, it would stay open. I would also like to add that even if they had closed the window, a letter to the airport officials would still be 100 percent necessary, otherwise the chances are good that it would happen again. With your letter to the officials, I would also suggest sending them a copy of your blog, so they can see that the whole world now knows about their lapse in security.
From: Pacharo Kayira, Lund, Sweden Posted: August 3, 2006 Comment: I am from Malawi and have flown around Africa. I must say airport security in most countries -- including my own -- is at best, comical. Strangely, most African countries strongly believe that they are immune from terrorist or any sort of attacks. Wrong! An example of this poor security is, when flying out of Malawi's main airport in the capital Lilongwe, checks involve security officers asking you what you are carrying in your bag.
From: Geoff Chapman Posted: August 3, 2006 Comment: My wife and I were flying out of Heathrow, and security found a tiny pair of tweezers tucked away in one of the pockets of our carry on. Neither of us even knew the tweezers were there. They took them away and tossed them into that big glass box with about a thousand or more of the other dangerous things you shouldn't fly with. Admittedly I was happy to see the six-foot sword, half a dozen or more eight-inch knives and even a few toy guns. At least I hope they were toys. Did someone really think they could take a six-foot sword on board? Anyway, we continued on our way leaving behind the ever so dangerous tweezers. Standing in the cue waiting to board it occurred to me as I looked down at the duty free I was carrying that I was boarding with what could be considered extremely dangerous weapons. I've seen cowboy movies, even seen a few real bar fights in my time. A broken bottle can cause quite a bit of damage. It even comes with a built-in handle. Surely duty free bottles are a lot more dangerous than a pair of tweezers.
From: Doug Macrae, South Africa Posted: August 4, 2006 Comment: Try airports in South Africa where a TV show ("Carte Blanche M-Net") leaves unattended baggage in front of security staff, only to have it stolen because they completely ignore it.
From: Elizabeth Guss, New Mexico Posted: August 4, 2006 Comment: I'll just follow-up by commenting that I am not comforted by the U.S. airlines' "magic questions" as to whether one packed his/her own bags, whether they've been in one's continuous control, and whether one has been asked by anyone to carry anything aboard the craft, as sufficient screening. People can -- and do -- lie all the time about these questions. I did, however, realize the "rules for the sake of rules" nature of U.S. security when last at LAX. An agent near the friendly skies' check-in became a screaming, irrational goon when I attached an address tag to the bag he had just "secured and cleared." The bag had not been moved. It was in the wee hours before dawn and there was barely a soul around to attract attention, let alone to distract anyone from any security function. This "securing and clearing" had consisted of asking the "magic questions" and putting an orange tag on the bag showing that it had been blessed by the T.S.A. There was no opening, inspecting, bomb-swiping, etc. Just a sticker. The problem? I, as the mere mortal owner of the bag, was prohibited "BY FEDERAL LAW" from touching that baggage "ONCE SECURED BY A T.S.A. OFFICER." As our small child was thoroughly terrorized by this screaming, rude, officious ninny, I simply said, "Oh, thank, you.", and left with my husband and child, with the T.S.A. goon gaping at my back. So much for the "friendly skies" hmmm? At least I am smart enough to know he was not employed by the airline. I sure don't feel safer in the air after the experience, though.
From: Raymond Leigh, Thailand Posted: August 9, 2006 Comment: Ah Richard, what a diamond geezer you are. I live in Thailand, on Koh Samui. This would have to be one of the world's most beautiful airports. The fascination with Samui is the easy going lifestyle .The security is, of course, totally laughable but that is the charm of parts of Thailand. I resent the uniformed megalomaniacs suffering from delusions of grandeur and paranoia, posing as security. Most of their actions make no sense at all to anyone with half a brain. All this causes is resentment. We have totally changed our free way of life and put these people in charge of our safety. They cause more animosity then they prevent.
From: Heather Matson, Kiev, Ukraine Posted: August 9, 2006 Comment: I am a Canadian who has lived in Ukraine for the past three-and-a-half years and spend a considerable amount of time traveling around the former Soviet Union. The practices in Moscow's Sheremetyevo-1 airport are odd (this is the terminal that services mostly domestic Russian flights but also flights within the F.S.U.). As soon as you enter the terminal building there is an x-ray for luggage and a metal detector, but if you are pushy you can carry on into the airport even if the walk through metal detector goes off. Customs officials x-ray your luggage, and then about five meters later, there is another security x-ray. After you check in and go through passport control, your carry on bags are x-rayed one more time. However, after passport control no one checks your documents anymore -- when your hand luggage is x-rayed (your shoes must come off here, which is always delightful) the staff there only want to see your tickets stubs to check when you are coming back to Moscow, rather than checking that the name on the boarding pass, the passport, and the person all match. I have yet to figure out why, and asking one of the staff is like talking to a brick wall.
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