If we all had the sort of security EL AL has there probably wouldn't be anymore successful hijackings. Note that Richard Reid the shoe bomber flew to Israel on EL AL ,assuming it wasn't because he likes Kosher food we can assume it was a dry run for an attack.But having had his shoes searched at check in and being seated next to a large fit man with a bulge in his jacket (read skymarshall) he realised he was wasting his time and decided to try another airline ,and almost succeeded.
However if this sort of security was introduced we wouldn't need a terrorist attack ,it would destroy the industry by itself.
A three hour check in may be acceptable once a year for a long haul flight ,but not for frequent fliers (read high yield ,full fare tickets).High speed trains ,driving ,video conferencing or not going would boom ,aircraft would sit idle and crews would be laid off.
EL AL are able to profile their passengers by ethnic origin to decide who gets increased attention ,other airlines can't. They can rely on Jewish passengers supporting them even if the check in procedure takes longer.
They only operate around 40 flights per day vs +/- 2400 for a large US carrier.
Imagine the terminals and roads to the airports with people taking three hours to get through ,absolute chaos.
I haven't even tried to work out the cost ,but if it is US$90 million for 40 flights a day, six days a week what would it be across the whole industry ,even allowing for economies of scale ,and who pays ?
We can't and won't have this level of security for all airlines .Nearly two years on we still don't even have reinforced doors on all cockpits.
All we are going to get is a solution that politicians can point to and say "Look we are doing something." And if it is obvious to the public , like confiscating nail clippers ,so much better.
I suggest the following:
1. Ideally the armoured cockpit door should be locked from the inside before the passengers board and never opened until after they have disembarked. This is impractical though ,food ,toilet visits crew changes on long haul flights come to mind. Double airlock type doors as discussed earlier would be needed.
2. A skymarshall reserve be created. We won't have enough full time marshalls for every flight or be able to afford them. The right sort of people such as police or military could could volunteer as skymarshalls and undergo the same vetting procedures, training and recurrency as regular skymarshalls. Shouldn't be too hard for an army training sargent to get through. They would not be paid but allowed free travel in return for guard duties. Some runs would obviously be more popular than others so incentives could be offered eg. do a Warsaw trip in winter before a Madrid in summer.
This would free up the full time marshalls for the less popular runs ,or higher risk ones were a marshall would be needed everytime.This would greatly increase the number of marshalls available at little extra cost. The guard on your outbound flight could be an armed police officer visiting his mother for the weekend ,on your return leg it could be an army officer going to a conference.
3.Arm the pilots just incase
PS Note hijack attempt on Qantas aircraft yesterday.