Is airport security really any better?

Maybe im just being paranoid or overly concerned, but since 9/11 airport security is supposedly so much better then before. Now honestly, I havent flown in a LONG time, but recently a good friend of mine and his girlfriend went to Cancun mexico.

So they get to the airport, go through screening, get bags x-rayed, his girlfriend gets the "random" search and she and her bags are checked, and all is ok. I believe they said they had a layover in chicago and had to get checked again, but pass and make their way safely to mexico.


so whats the problem? they get to the hotel to unpack, and as my friends girlfriend is unpacking the backpack she had, she finds a M-80 firecracker in the bag in a small side pouch. I guess the backpack was her mothers and she forgot that it was in there.

How did airport security not find this? I mean im glad they didnt in a way because that could potentially mean jail time for them, but at the same time if a device capable of blowing your hand off, or putting a hole in an airplane can get through all these checks, what else could someone sneak in?

they even said an explosives dog was sniffing around near them and didnt catch it! Those dogs are supposedly to be able to pick up scents from micrograms worth of explosives.

I just flew from Portland to Denver and then on the wayback they found a3 inch knife I forgot in a small backpack pocket. I was not feeling very safe.

I also was flying out of Vegas and had middle Eastern decent loooking guys in my seats. They were let on the wrong plane and still checked us both in for the same seat.

lighters every time...just try it...i bet you get it through! I have got lighters through both in my pocket and in my bags at least a dozen times in the past three years...and once a small knife...it is all just an illusion...but of course we already knew that right?

The UK suffers for a sever case of inconsistency. The main city airports are supposedly operating at a higher level where shoes are scanned and there are multiple layers of security to pass through. They suffer from a workforce full of apathy and were x-ray monitors are not even watched. The lower tier airport are a lot less secure but they still have the same aircraft types departing from them. One of the least secure access point is via the seaports. I passed through them recently and was not checked in any way.

As a point of reference, the ports of note for their poor security are:
1. Liverpool
2. Hull
3. Horwich