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Where Are the Jobs? As a member of airport security, you will work outside or inside, depending on the responsibilities of your job. Guards are posted in stations along roadsides. They may also roam the grounds by foot or in vehicles. You might work in a com- bination of environments through- out your career or even throughout the week. As a screener, you’ll spend your time indoors, within the terminals. Every airport is a warren of hallways and rooms between and surrounding cavernous spaces, where crowds roam between check-in desks and gates. You’ll have a regular station at the point where paying passengers enter the gate area. As a member of the airport maintenance crew, you could be working just about any- where. You might maintain the runways. You might spend the majority of your time in the hangars. Or you might be part of the crew that cares for the other buildings, from the termi- nals to the towers. You might be employed by a major messenger and package service and be surrounded by workers who are all employed by that same company. You might report to a large interna- tional airport. Or you might be in a smaller, municipal airport that mainly serves pilots who fly for pleasure, along with the pilots who work for local companies. This work takes many forms. A Typical Day Here are the highlights of a typical day for a screener. Control crowd. The airport is busy all day long, but there are waves of crowds that are especially large. The crew keeps an eye out for lines that are backing up and opens more chutes as needed. Help educate passengers. An older woman has a bag of cosmetics, and a number of items are fluids not allowed on the plane. You explain, patiently and firmly, that the rules are the same for everyone, and you remove the items. A few kind words from you help ease her discomfort about the loss. TALKING TRENDS Passenger travel dips with the economy, but overall, air traffic is expected to increase between now and 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis- tics. There are a number of factors involved, including increases in disposable income and expanding international cargo traffic and low-fare air carriers. Airport Security, Baggage, or Maintenance Worker  • 15