The struggle to make flights 100% secure can lead to decisions being made that would never be considered in most lines of business.
This week the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), responsible for security at American airports, said it is scrapping its “puffer machines” because they didn’t work. The TSA bought 207 machines at a cost of $30m but 113 of them didn’t even make it out of storage. The other 94 were installed in 37 airports and racked up an incredible $6.1m maintenance bill over four years.
After realising that the machines struggled to detect explosives they are to be replaced with the controversial body scanners creating images of passengers through their clothing. The TSA has already ordered 250 scanners at $170,000 each ($42.5m).
The TSA must be hoping that the body scanners are more successful than the puffers, but judging by public reaction so far they are unlikely to improve the popularity of the TSA amongst passengers.
