I was a ticket counter agent for Frontier Airlines at the old Denver Stapleton Airport. The employees of the company that provided security threatened to strike. Each airline selected employees to work security if the strike actually took place.
I cannot remember exactly how many hours the training took; however, I know that I worked at least half my regular counter shift that day, so training was less than four hours. It consisted of videos displaying x-rayed carry-on bags. The graphics included arrows that pointed to restricted articles; the articles were named. Once the video was complete we took a test.
I was an idiot. I couldn’t tell the difference between a hairspray can and a bomb, a nose-hair trimmer and a bomb, a hand lotion dispenser and mace, a vibrator and a flashlight. I obviously failed but as we were allowed to correct our own and ‘make notes where you feel it necessary,’ I passed the test. It scared the hell out of me.
We had no ‘wand training,’ nor was there profiling. At the ticket counter we received profiling information: male, age 18 to 35, one-way ticket paid in cash, reservation booked at the airport rather than by phone or through an agency. That took care of lots of military personnel going home, college kids, truck drivers stuck due to closed highways or accidents; hardly terrorists. The WTC terrorists had advance reservations, advance tickets and picture ID.
This is about as pointless as it can get except for one thing: A talk show caller suggested hiring retired military personnel to work security and this is probably a fine idea if we can find those retirees willing to work for minimum wage and put up with the passenger bullshit and the tedium. We also have to ensure that they would not be assessed additional taxes because they have the fortune to work for minimum wage.
The best part of this is that the security personel did not go on strike and the country was spared my less than adequate services.