Before moving back to Beantown, I used to work right above Grand Central and this thought crossed my mind every day.

Mike

Something to keep in mind given that the overwhelmingly majority of terrorist attacks have NOTHING to do with aviation.

"Fighting the last fight."

Exactly. We're still fighting the last war. Heaven help us when someone blows themselves up in line at Walmart.

As for Israeli style security here? The TSA is broken, sure...but it will be a cold day in hell before I answer questions to anyone about where I am going, why I am going somewhere, who I am meeting, what I am doing there, who I work for, what i do, etc. It's no one's damn business.

Why not get it over with and just stick little RFID tags in us like they do to pets?

How much is YOUR life worth? I fly El Al any chance I get.

My life is priceless...but I don't live in fear of terrorists or terrorism or think every flight I board is going to be my last. I do not want to live in a world where order is maintained by ELAL style security. If I wanted that, I could just move to Pyongyang.

Exactly. Terrorism is far less of an issue in absolutist totalitarian states.

Then y'all better move to MARS... Since you obviously don't live in the same reality those of us do that have to travel in the Middle East. The utopia you wish for ended about 1967. As far as I'm concerned, ALL the passengers should be armed. That would make things MUCH more interesting

For all the reasons cited, I don't think we'll ever see EL AL take over airport security at every U.S. airport.

That said, what TSA does and what EL AL does are almost apples and oranges, and it goes way beyond the "dreaded" EL AL interview. Physical aircraft security, explosion-resistant luggage containers, air marshalls on all flights, and the list goes on.

Just to clarify we're all on the same page...countries in the middle east (well, any other country for that matter) can enact whatever security measures they want - it will be my choice to visit there or not. I don't begrudge Israel or EL AL taking whatever measures they feel are necessary, just like they don't begrudge my decision to avoid traveling there.

I never want to see this country enact anything close to those procedures, whether it be for air travel or any other public gathering place. So I am sure you weren't suggesting that EL AL or Israeli style procedures be brought to the USA

I've travelled plenty to the Middle East and elsewhere. Hot and hotter spots there and elsewhere.

Mars is colder than any of the spots to which I'm referring. And Israel is "paradise" compared to some of those places.

Agreed! I've been there (and other places) both Active Military and as a DOD type. They missed me three times... ^

And yes Boca, I WOULD like to see them bring those types of procedures here. I would also like to see them extended to both train and bus travel. Then you cut out the easy movement of people and they go somewhere else to cause trouble. It would also take care of most of the illegals in this country too. Of course, you would also need to bring REAL supervision and procedures to the process; which would actually make people responsible for their actions as screeners.

I think it would be fair to the OP to at least sort of answer your question (instead of all the opinion posts we have all made. You asked how is EL AL security vs TSA. Well, as was acurately said, they are "apples and oranges" to each other.

In the US we are very "things" focused when it comes to security. We look for things people could do harm with. Knives, sharp objects, bombs, lighters. For the most part the airport security folks would rather if we did not speak to them AT ALL, heck they would take our stuff and separate us into seclusion and search it without having to bother with us if they could. They also have no pre-knowledge of who is flying, where they are going or anything about them. The only check they do on us is if our id matches our boarding pass.

El Al is 180 degrees of that. They take the approach that a sharp object is only dangerous in the hands of a dangerous person, so lets look at the people. Yes they limit some items dont get me wrong. But when you go through security at El Al they want to know about YOU. 99% of the security time is spent talking to the passenger. Asking them where they are going, why they are going there, what they are going to do there. And a lot of other questions that often seem very out of place (what is your favorite color, do you like tennis I have been asked). They are asking them for a very set purpose. They want to know 1) does your story make sense and stay consistent and 2) How do you react to them talking to you. Do you get really nervous and freaked out or do you just answer away? They are trained to read the psychology of people.

Also long before you show up at security El Al has given security a list of those booked on a flight. they have already been able to run it through the do not fly and high risk databases (vs the US where we run it mid air and divert). They will have done some background checks on people who have sent up flags.

Simply put El Al looks for Terrorists, TSA looks for the terrorists toys (tools)!!! THAT is the difference!

Glad to hear the good news. Would you sign over -- in a will -- your property to me, come unarmed, follow me and let me drop you off with just the clothes on your back in certain places in the Middle East and South Asia? Israel (still inclusive of the Palestinian Territories) is a "paradise" compared to some of those places. Still up for it?

I have no interest in seeing a state of lock-down. If you want to recall and import Soviet times and experience it, I think Pyongyang would be inviting.

TSA (writ large) is not only "things"-focused. They are also name-obsessed. They are also missing a lot of other things.

That said, El Al security has missed terrorists too -- but they (and the Israeli government) did not care. But at least they are more comprehensive.

Agreed, the only problem is they are missing MOST of the names...