.png)
The Lars Larson Show Interviews
Lars Larson has been asking the hard questions for decades and he's not stopping now. Every weekday, Lars hosts two of the most listened-to talk radio programs in the country.
From noon to 3pm PT, he anchors a Northwest-focused program heard across more than 100 affiliates in Washington and Oregon, covering the stories and policies hitting closest to home.
Then, from 3 to 6 pm PT, he takes it national with a syndicated program reaching listeners from coast to coast.
No talking points. No agenda-driven nonsense. Just the news, the debates, and the conversations that actually move the needle. Subscribe and find out why millions of listeners keep coming back.
The Lars Larson Show Interviews
Jeffrey Price - Should TSA Roll Back Post-9/11 Airport Security Rules?
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Jeffrey Price, professor of Aviation and Aerospace Science at MSU Denver and former assistant security director at Denver International Airport, joins Lars to discuss TSA’s new program allowing some non-ticketed TSA PreCheck members to pass through security and visit airport gates. Twenty-five years after 9/11, is it time to reconsider some of the airport security restrictions put in place after the attacks?
Hey, welcome back to the Lawrence Larson show. It's a pleasure to be with you. I'm glad to get to your phone calls and emails. Well, twenty-five years after the 9-11 terrorist attacks, and we mark the anniversary tomorrow, TSA is bringing back some gate access for non-travelers at airports. Is it time to rethink some of the airport security rules that got put in place after the attacks? I thought we'd talk to Jeffrey Price, who's a professor of aviation and aerospace science at MSU Denver and a former Assistant Secretary of Security Director at Denver International Airport. Professor Price, welcome to the program.
SPEAKER_01Lars, thank you for having me on.
SPEAKER_00Let's start with a simple one. Should we roll back some of these rules? And do some of them make almost no difference at all to our security when flying?
SPEAKER_01I think they definitely make a difference. The reason they were put into place in the first place is that post-9-11, first off, we needed to reduce the number of people going through the lines. And pre-9-11, anybody could go through a screening checkpoint. You didn't need a boarding pass, you did not need ID. It didn't need a reason. You could just go out there right to the gate. But post-9-11, we needed to reduce the number of people doing that for a couple of reasons. One is to keep the line down to a reasonable number. And then two is it's less people for the screening uh personnel to actually screen. So it just reduces their workload. I think this process, what they're looking at right now, this uh gate side by TSA Precheck, is it's kind of a greater vision that's come along with the new administration of this return to the golden age of flight, uh, where you can go right to the gates, pick people up, drop people off. And it's it's kind of the next maturation of looking at that, trying to get back to those those times.
SPEAKER_00Do you think that kind of change makes sense? Because I'll admit I don't fly as much as I used to. And I at one point had TSA pre-check. It meant it was a little more convenient, although lately, I mean, uh when I finally gave it up, it it seemed to be that so many people had it that it was just like going through the regular security line anymore. But is there any real harm to saying if they're going to monitor the people who've who've done done pre TSA pre-check and want to go through and walk all the way to the gate, let's say with a younger person who's getting on a plane, a child, or an older person that you want to accompany to the gate, any problem with accommodating that now?
SPEAKER_01Really, there's no problem with accommodating it because right now, if you do have a certain special circumstance, like you're taking an unaccompanied minor to the gate to fly in a plane by themselves, there are gate passes that uh TSA can issue right there at the checkpoint, accompanying elderly individuals, uh, those are somebody with disabilities. Those are the that process has been in place for a while. So now what we're looking at is this next level of anybody that is a pre-check member can go out there. And I I think you always have to balance that. Is this making good sense from a security perspective? Is it really necessary? We have two whole generations that either weren't born during 9-11 or uh before that time and or don't even remember really what occurred. It's an abstract to them. They don't know anything, they don't know a different world. So to them, it might not make a whole lot of sense at all because why are we changing something we've already been doing for all these years? But even those those that were on 9-11 that were old enough to remember uh might be asking ourselves the same questions too. We've all kind of gotten used to not going to the gate now. So, what how is this going to really uh improve security and efficiency?
SPEAKER_00I'm talking to Professor Jeffrey Price. He's a professor of aviation and aerospace science at MSU Denver and a former assistant security director at Denver International. So um what about the idea that we've allowed people to fly, especially during the four years of President Autopen? We allowed people to fly who are actually illegally in the country. You know, and and that was an accommodation that was made for four years. I assume it's not going on anymore, but we still have people. We told folks you've got to have some proof that you're le uh of your legal presence in the United States, like an enhanced driver's license, a passport, or whatever. And and so how do we have a system that's supposed to be secure and yet we're constantly punching holes in it by doing things like that?
SPEAKER_01It's a difficult challenge. Uh we have to balance the efficiency of that checkpoint, along with its primary purpose, which is to make sure people aren't getting on planes with prohibited items that they could do some sort of damage with. So we always have to balance that. And and the challenge of uh, you know, do we do background checks on everybody to the level that we're looking for uh people with with wants and warrants out? That would be a whole nother level. So it's got to be a balance between those two to uh make sure we're still trying to enforce the laws of the nation while still keeping uh prohibited items off and and serving the the function of that system.
SPEAKER_00You know, Professor Price, I remember when 9-11 happened. I know that a lot of my audience does not, but I remember making the suggestion because I knew that they were going to change the nature of air travel and the security around it, and I immediately heard people saying, let's do a government agency like TSA. And I said, why don't we stick with the private sector, which I think does a better job? And in fact, there are private sector security arrangements at a number of airports. I think SFO, Nancy Pelosi's airport, is is one of them that retained its its private sector uh role instead of using the government agency. Uh, should we change any of that?
SPEAKER_01That's been a very good topic of debate for several months now. And it's been President Trump's uh statements that have said small airports should switch to that private contractor model. Uh 20 airports are now doing private contractors. The difference between what we were doing prior to 9-11, prior to 9-11, those contractors were hired by the airlines. Right. And to them it's a it's a cost item, so they're going to try and reduce costs as much as they can. Today, the contractor model is TSA, uh, does the contracting, does the uh oversight of the contract. So it is a different model. And those 20 airports so far, insofar as we know, in terms of what's been put out to the public, have been doing the job. And SFO is one of the first ones. They were part of a pilot program. The whole thing is called the screening partnership program. And it's been around since since 9-11. And now it's just looking at an expansion of that process.
SPEAKER_00You know what, Professor, I just prefer going back to a private model. Private contractors can be fired. Government agencies and government employees maybe not so very much. That is Professor Jeffrey Price. He's a professor of aviation and aerospace at MSU Denver. Professor, it's a pleasure to have you on the program. By the way, folks, there is a free report, and I want you to get your hands on it. It's called the Secret War on Cash. And I'll tell you how to do that in just a moment. What it does, it explores the financial trends that could affect your savings, your buying power, and the way you use money in the years ahead. Most Americans won't recognize those changes until they're already affecting your everyday lives. And that's exactly why Swiss America created this report called The Secret War on Cash. For more than 40 years, Swiss America has been helping Americans understand the forces shaping our economy and shaping our financial future. They believe in the information in this report and they think it's too important to ignore. Read it and decide for yourself. But don't wait. Call or text 800-289-2646 or visit SwissAmerica.com slash Lars and ask for your free report today. That's call or text 800-289-2646 or visit Swiss America.com slash Lars. Don't wait. Ask for your free copy of the Secret War on Cash and do it today. And tell them Lars sent you. Message and data rates may apply. That's Swiss America.com slash Lars or call 800-289-2646. Glad to be with you on a conspiracy theory Thursday. Always glad to take your calls. Tomorrow we mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of 9-11 and we celebrate, as we always do, First Amendment Friday. That's tomorrow on the Lars Larson show.