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Posted on Thu, Nov. 14, 2002 | |
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EL AL: THE AIRLINE THAT GETS IT RIGHT mas@mastalk I FLEW TO Israel earlier this week against a backdrop of bad news. A Palestinian gunman shot and killed five people, including two children, at a kibbutz. Just hours earlier, two Palestinians were killed in a car explosion in what police say was a failed terror attack. It's the latest in a string of suicidal acts that have wreaked havoc in this country for the last two years. Yet en route to the Holy Land, I slept like a baby. Why so relaxed? Because I traveled on El Al, the Israeli-owned airline, and I felt as safe in the air as I do in my bed at home. At the Newark airport, I was subjected to a courteous yet thorough interrogation. The questioning is best described as a more extensive version of the "who packed your bag and has it been out of your eyesight" to which we Americans are accustomed. I didn't mind a bit - in fact, I welcomed the scrutiny, and it occurred to me that this is why El Al has such an impeccable safety record despite the conflict in the Mideast. Americans who rejected the Bush administration plan called Operation Tips, which solicited the support of service personnel to drop a dime in the war on terror, wouldn't sit still for this on a flight from say, Philadelphia to Los Angeles. Too bad. I think there is a great deal to learn from the Israelis. They do things differently. Our domestic airlines look for bombs and weapons. El Al looks for terrorists. And they make no apologies in the process. Moreover, no one seems to complain. Here at home, I can just imagine some ACLU lawyer taking umbrage when asked, as I was, about the purpose of my visit and who I would meet with on arrival. I am in Israel to do a week of radio shows. My program director, Grace Blazer, is traveling with me. She was asked who made the selection of the tape recorder we brought with us ("the one that works best" seemed to suffice). She also has a new passport. That drew additional questions. "When did you decide to visit Israel?" Answer: a month ago. "Why, if you planned to visit Israel a month ago, did you only get your passport this week?" And so on. This all occurred before we reached the ticket counter. And when 10 minutes of Q&A ended, our questioner did not wave us through. Instead, she brought over a supervisor who repeated many of the questions. I got the impression that he was as interested in eye contact and body language as he was our responses. Profiling? Yes, the psychological kind. "Why, if you are a radio host, does your luggage tag identify a law firm?" he wanted to know. The questioning didn't cross the line. I wasn't offended. This is how El Al earned its reputation as the safest airline flying. Presumably, this is how El Al was able to thwart a Jordanian who in the mid-'80s tried to put explosives aboard with his unsuspecting pregnant girlfriend. And this is the security we see. There is more to the defense than meets the eye. On entering the aircraft, there is no opportunity to look into the cockpit and greet the pilot. The cockpit is behind double doors, which I got to inspect on our arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. U.S. airlines should take a page from the El Al playbook. I think there is market share to be gained by any airline that implements these procedures and promotes itself as the safest domestic carrier. I know I would pay extra for the peace of mind. Michael Smerconish's column appears Thursdays. He can be heard weekdays from 3-6 p.m. on the Big Talker 1210/AM. E-mail mas@mastalk.com. |
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