Airport security changed forever after 9/11. But experts say there's still room for improvement.

WASHINGTON — Almost 25 years ago, then-Long Island Rep. Pete King was among the lawmakers gathered in the White House with President George W. Bush and top administration officials as they hashed out the details of legislation to transform airport security in the United States after the 9/11 attacks.

The sense of urgency to fix the fatal security flaws the attacks exposed hung over every meeting, with the White House and lawmakers ultimately fast- tracking the passage of the Aviation Transportation Security Act.

Signed into law by Bush just two months after the attacks, the act created the Transportation Security Administration, federalizing a security system that had mostly been a patchwork of private security firms hired by airports and airlines to manage security. In came the enhanced airport security apparatus we still have today: with tighter screening, new ID requirements, restrictions on fluids and bans on sharp objects.

But while many of the central changes remain in place, advances in technology have also helped ease some of the restrictions rolled out after 19 terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial airliners to carry out the deadliest foreign attack on U.S. soil.

King recalled in a phone interview with Newsday that some people in the original discussion didn't like the idea of completely turning over security to a new agency, but Bush's view prevailed.

"There was a dispute over how much power to give to a government TSA, as opposed to private companies," King remembered. "Some of the most conservative people thought security should continue to be operated by private companies. Bush felt strongly we had to have more of a government intervention. You couldn’t trust the private companies on something as serious as this."

Here’s a look at how airport security has evolved since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Stricter screening

Before the 9/11 attacks, there was no universal requirement for passengers to show their ID before boarding a plane — a security gap the terrorists seized upon.

An investigation into the attacks by the 9/11 Commission found that 18 of the 19 hijackers had acquired some form of fraudulent IDs that they used to take flight lessons in the United States before the attack and to board the planes.

One of the attackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77, which originated at Dulles International Airport in Virginia before crashing into the Pentagon, was flagged by an airline customer service representative for not having ID, among other suspicious behavior, but he was ultimately allowed to board, according to the commission’s report.

"By 8 a.m. on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, they had defeated all the security layers that America’s civil aviation security system then had in place to prevent a hijacking," the report said of the attackers.

Now, all passengers must present a government-issued photo ID from a pre-approved list including passports and military IDs. As of last May, only state drivers licenses and identification that comply with the stricter screening standards of the federal Real ID Act of 2005 are accepted as state IDs.

To help cut down on airport screening wait times, the TSA has authorized a series of paid services — including TSA PreCheck and CLEAR — that allow passengers to bypass the traditional security lines. Users pay for a subscription that includes a vigorous background and biometrics check before admittance into the program.

Creation of TSA 

With a mandate of "protecting air, land and rail transportation against terrorist threats, sabotage and other acts of violence," legislation creating the Transportation Security Administration was officially signed into law on November 19, 2001, by Bush.

No longer would airport security be run by different private security firms hired by each airline operating out of an airport. The TSA would also create a universal list of banned items including box cutters, knives and sharp scissors after learning the terrorists used such weapons to attack people aboard the planes.

The TSA also required all bags loaded onto a plane to go through X-ray and scanning machines.

"There's no question that aviation safety and our kind of terrorist policy posture, our approach to terrorism, shifted completely after 9/11, shifted from a more kind of reactive model to a more proactive model," said Corri Zoli, an instructor and researcher with Syracuse University’s Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute.

In 2006, after a another terrorist attempt was thwarted by British authorities who found the would-be attackers wanted to disguise explosives in soft drink canisters, the TSA implemented restrictions on liquids, gels and pastes to 3.4 ounces or less, with some exceptions like medicine and baby formula.

While the liquid size limits remain in place, improvements in airport scanning devices to detect possible toxic liquids could mean the restrictions eventually go away once more airports install the upgraded scanners, according to security experts.

The TSA is now one of the largest federal agencies — employing more than 47,000 federal security officers — but security policy experts note recent government shutdowns over the past few years have highlighted a weak spot for the agency.

Forced to work without pay, TSA workers have been known to call out in large numbers or quit the agency for other work, resulting in staffing shortages, overworked screeners and long airport lines.

"They need to be treated as essential personnel that still get paid even during shutdowns because they're performing a critical security function," said Jeffrey Price, an aviation security expert and professor at Metropolitan State University in Denver. "You can't have people that aren't getting paid in that position because they can't keep their mind on their job when they're worried about whether they're going to pay the mortgage or put food on the table for their family."

From shoes off, to shoes on

For years, travelers had to remove their shoes and run them through scanning machines. That ended last July, when the Trump administration repealed the rule.

The requirement to remove shoes and have them scanned was instituted nationwide by the TSA in 2006, but the rule stemmed from a thwarted terrorist attack in December 2001. Richard Reid, the accused bomber, allegedly stuffed explosive powder into the heels of his shoes before boarding a flight from Paris to Miami.

Reid had trained at the same al-Qaida camps attended by the 9/11 terrorists, according to federal authorities at the time.

The TSA has said that advances in technology and upgraded body scanners have eliminated the need for a shoes-off policy.

"Thanks to our cutting-edge technological advancements and multilayered security approach, we are confident we can implement this change while maintaining the highest security standards," the TSA said in a statement last July announcing the changes.

Areas for improvement

While lawmakers and security experts credit the changes rolled out in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and technology upgrades with preventing a repeat attack, they note that there are still areas in need of improvement to keep the nation’s airports and travelers safe.

Price, the author of the book "Practical Aviation Security: Predicting and Preventing Future Threats," said fighting complacency remains a challenge.

"When something bad does not happen for a really long time, we tend to forget something bad can happen," Price said, adding that he believes many airports need to do more to ensure their perimeters have modern security systems to immediately detect possible intruders.

While some major airports have started to use new CT-scan-like bag scanning machines, not all airports are fitted with the more expensive machines, which Price sees as a potential problem.

"I understand it takes a while to deploy technology, but I'd like to see those continue," Price said. "It allows for a more efficient passenger experience, which also improves security because the fewer people I have standing in line for an hour, that's fewer people that could potentially be a target for shooters and bombs sitting in a public area.

"Security is not just about moving people efficiently," Price said. "It's about moving them so that they don't present themselves as another type of target."

Biometric screening

To speed up the screening process, a number of U.S. airports have started to use biometric scanning machines that immediately match a person's photo ID with a camera scan of their face to ensure a traveler's identity, versus having a TSA officer do their own visual check.

Worldwide, the use of biometrics at airports has started to spread, with major airports in Japan, Dubai and Singapore using facial recognition machines to check-in passengers, without the need of paper ID or tickets to scan.

But in the United States, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle and civil rights groups have raised concerns about the further expansion of biometric use without guardrails for how data is stored and protected from cyberhackers.

Under current TSA policy, any facial scans collected during the airport check-in process are discarded, and the agency has said its scans are not "used for surveillance or any law enforcement purpose."

 King, who served as the second-ever chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, created in the wake of the attacks, said that while he understands the Trump administration’s focus on using the Department of Homeland Security to oversee its mass deportation campaign, he hopes the agency does not stray from its original mission of focusing on preventing terrorist threats from abroad and detecting homegrown threats.

"The Homeland Security Department is fixated on illegal immigration. OK, fine, but I don't see the same level of intensity toward actual homeland security," King said. "That was the reason why it was set up, because of the terrorist activity, and now it's so focused on immigration."

Asked about the current state of travel security, Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), the current chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement to Newsday that as head of the committee his focus is "making sure TSA has the tools and resources it needs to stay ahead" of changing threats.

"Americans are safer flying today than we were 25 years ago," Garbarino said. "But the threats we face continue to evolve."