Whenever the security of airports or of aircrafts is mentioned in the United States, people become uneasy and cringe with some sort of remembrance of 9/11. Air travel can be sensitive topic in the United States. This doesn’t at all mean that the conditions of the airports or the planes are unsanitary like those of the Arab world, but in the United States, factors in airports or in the skies which compromise security are not taken lightly. Airport organization is taken seriously, to say the least, as to minimize the risk of a terror attack. The terror attacks on 9/11 were carried out by men from the Arab world, and I found it very interesting to learn about the conditions of airports in the countries where terrorism is almost ominous. Horwitz depicts the airports in the Arab world as a whole, specifically in Egypt and Sudan, to be prime targets for terrorist attacks. His accounts of his experiences in the Egyptian airport were not only shocking, but were absolutely hilarious. He creates a sense of complete chaos and gives the reader the feeling that not even the airport officials have any idea what is going on. If there is one word to describe the airports, it’s ‘inconsistent.’ No traveler ever knows when their plane is taking off, what terminal it is taking off from, whether or not the aircraft will run out of fuel at 30,000 feet, or even whether or not the plane will make it off the runway. Along with the uninformed travelers, the flight crewmen themselves seem completely clueless. Horwitz tells of a flight out of Cairo where it didn’t become apparent to the pilot until part way through their journey that they had forgotten to fill the plane with fuel. They made an emergency landing somewhere in the dessert, where it became evident that a lack of fuel wasn’t the plane’s only problem. After hours of repairs, Horwitz asks a crewman what had been wrong with the plane. The crewman’s response; “they are not sure.” It’s safe to say that no American Airline would have let the passengers re-board a plane after an emergency landing in the middle of the dessert. When I read these chapters on Arabian air-travel, I was confused as to whether the airlines in the middle east are simply not concerned with the safety issues and just don’t mind taking chances, or if they are plainly not aware of how unstable their “system” is. One thing that I am sure of is that (according to my newfound knowledge), an Egyptian airplane would be my last choice for a mode of transportation.
BD
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Air travel in the United States has indeed been an unpleasant issue since 9/11, like BD states. It is extremely stressful to have to go through airport security, but also, to board the plane itself, hoping that everything is kept in good, flying shape. I agree that hearing about the Arab airports, more specifically the airport in Egypt, was extremely shocking. If the system, if it can even be called that, which the Egyptians use was integrated at airports in the United States, I think it would be safe to say that there would be many unhappy travelers. It is stressful enough flying in the U.S., having to worry about terrorism, so if the planes did not take off or had to make a landing in the middle of the flight for some odd reason, the people would probably boycott the use of airplanes as a mode of transportation. It is interesting to know that even when planes do not takeoff, flights are cancelled, or planes are landed for unknown reasons, that the Arabs still use planes for transportation. Maybe they have gotten so used to this procedure that it no longer bothers them. The U.S. flight system clearly differs from the Egyptian flight system in that airport business is handled with more order and precision.
EJ
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