	Daniel Pipes Mobile Edition Regular Site
Home \| Articles \| Blog \| Reviews \| Search

No One Said Security Comes Cheap

by Daniel Pipes
August 18, 2006
updated Aug 29, 2006

Send

RSS

The thwarted London plot has prompted discussion of importing El Al's security methods to the West, writes Peter Robison for Bloomberg in "Israeli-Style Air Security, Costly and Intrusive, May Head West."

That word "costly" in the title is not an exaggeration. El Al Chairman Israel Borovich estimates "El Al's security bill at $100 million a year, which amounts to $76.92 per trip by its 1.3 million passengers. Half is paid by the Israeli government. By contrast, the TSA spent $4.58 billion on aviation security, or just $6.21 per trip by 737 million passengers, in fiscal 2005."

Doing the math, that's a difference of $70.71 per passenger. Or, the Israeli security costs more than twelve times as much as the American version. (August 18, 2006)

Related Topics: Counter-terrorism receive the latest by email: subscribe to daniel pipes' free mailing list This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL.