Showing large screen video images of scanned baggage might entertain passengers standing in the lines which may be inevitable if many of the security measures proposed for domestic airports are adopted. Regardless of their effectiveness in detecting explosives, dogs provide a significant deterrence which should not be discounted. It is also my opinion that we should devote more effort to identifying and apprehending terrorists rather than looking for their bombs. Even with the best available technology the latter may prove to be an impossible task. Passenger profiling has successfully kept bombs off airplanes and should be considered an essential element of plans to enhance aviation security.
Human factors are an exceptionally important consideration in enhancing aviation security.
It is my opinion that the weakest element of our current passenger and carry on baggage screening program are the equipment operators. Low wages, high turnovers of personnel, inadequate training, poor working conditions, and other factors need to be addressed both with the existing system and any expansion of efforts to deploy a new generation of high technology equipment for explosives detection. Airlines have become extremely cost conscious, and the traveling public will always be attracted to the lowest possible airfares. Though there are some recent exceptions, airlines have not voluntarily acquired available high technology equipment to enhance the security operations for which they have responsibility. This is different from the situation in Europe where the airports and governments assume responsibility for aviation security.