Ten months, one new agency and precious little change. It seems the effort to fix American aviation security is in a dangerous stall. September 11 showed how a lot of hate and a little discipline can transform airplanes into missiles. Since then, some critics say the urgency to act has hit twin walls, industry intransigence and government bureaucracy.
National guardsmen and no-fly zones are gone; airlines are in a holding pattern on fortified cockpit doors and bomb-resistant luggage containers; federalized security screeners and bomb detection equipment are held up. Meanwhile Congress and the White House bicker over dollars while government tests show guns and knives can still flow through airport check points like water through a sieve.
Guests:
Paul Hudson, executive director, Aviation Consumer Action Project
Michael Levine, former senior airline executive, professor Yale Law School
Matthew Wald, reporter, New York Times
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), member, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.