Thread: My Experience at O'Hare Airport in Chicago

I agree that Security is more stringent in many airports overseas, Germany is really serious. At the end of the Gulf war I traveled through Frankfurt. We were loaded onto a bus at the gate and driven out to end of the apron where the airplane waited with our luggage in a big pile next to the cargo door. You identified your bag and boarded the plane, if they had left overs they were taken away in a bomb truck.
Having worked for Airlines in the past, I hope they are screening ALL employees at the airports, but contract companies that run the concessions are responsible for their own employees, or they used to be.
Baggage handlers surely are being screened, (I was making a tongue in cheek crack COTO, get it?) But a lot of companies hire on the on the buddy system as far a jobs are concerned.
Baggage handlers are usually paid a very low salary, but it was acceptable to them because they received some courtesy flight benefits from the various airlines as offset compensation. There was a big flap at Washington Dulles after 911 and I don't think it was the only airport that had issues.
FYI, when I asked a manager at a Fat Burger if his employees had undergone TB screens he told me they were no longer necessary as a condition of employment. I don't know when that happened, but I am much pickier about where I eat now - mostly at home.

One of the concerns voiced after 9/11 was that many of the airport screeners were illegal immigrants -

So our President just makes all of them federal employees - without checking them out. The 'operation tarmac' came about a long time after that. They did catch some even after waiting that long.

Why were they all made federal employees? At that time? Why wouldn't it have been better to make the employer check them out and fire any illegals?

That has always puzzled me -

OBE

Forget it and lets keep going. We are all having bad days and high tempers.
I too am curious about the health testing requirements for people that handle our food supply. I don't know if it is a State issue or a Federal one? If it is a State issue, do some States require TB tests and others don't?

I am a registered nurse, you forgot to mention TB one of the on the rise diseases coming mostly from Mexico. Some forms are highly resistant to antibiotics. I hope for your sake if you got food after talking to this lady you didn't eat it! I am almost to the point of not eating in any resturant if illegals work there if that is being racist, that is to bad my and my family's health is much more important then being politically correct! I am not a mushy kind of person, but my soul is sick seeing what our government and political leaders are doing to us and our great country! Personaly I think we should sic the environmentalist on them as I am afraid they are being harmful to our health.Do you reckon we could get the ACLU to sue our government for what they are doing to us? Just joking, we all know who side they are on right?I am probably all wrong here don't have any statistics to show for it ,I would bet you a wooden nickel this huge mumps outbreak came from illegal immigrants!

Let me say this about Homeland Security. I don't think it was necessary. The FBI/CIA/INS... could have cooperated, without a fat head honcho. What really peeved me is that Bush said he wasn't going to grow government (in his campaign speach, look it up) but what in the heck do you call Homeland Security. Wonder about the chunk of the budget it gets and we will never get rid of it. Not growing government and creating Homeland Security is akin to being almost pregnant.

Originally Posted by nntrixie

One of the concerns voiced after 9/11 was that many of the airport screeners were illegal immigrants -

So our President just makes all of them federal employees - without checking them out. The 'operation tarmac' came about a long time after that. They did catch some even after waiting that long.

Why were they all made federal employees? At that time? Why wouldn't it have been better to make the employer check them out and fire any illegals?

That has always puzzled me -

I thought there was a big raid not too long ago where a bunch of illegals working at an airport were identified, fired, and arrested. It might be worthwhile to go back to your airport and take down the names on some of the name tags, then report them to ICE.