Up in the air with security measures at O'Hare

Pat downs, luggage searches, bathroom prohibitions and - nothing.

That's the gamut of treatment passengers at O'Hare experienced under heightened security two weeks post the botched bombing aboard Flight 253.

I spent the morning at O'Hare International Airport Friday, mainly in the International Terminal, stalking travelers and listening to Christmas Muzak.

Fliers arriving at O'Hare from Seoul, Korea, reported pat downs by security officers but no restrictions on movement during the flight.

"There was nothing additional, nothing out of the ordinary," said businessman Scott Bohen, en route to Detroit from Korea.

But travelers on an Air India flight to Chicago by way of Frankfurt, Germany, talked about tight controls on what they could and couldn't do in the last hour of the trip. Passengers had to sit tight before landing without access to bathrooms and couldn't hold pillows or blankets.

Those were similar restrictions faced by German Andre Kraemer when he flew to Illinois Dec. 26, one day after Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines jetliner bound for Detroit.

"The last hour we had to stay in our seats, we weren't allowed to read books or use anything," said Kraemer, who was returning to Stuttgart Friday.

Yang Gao, a student at Purdue University, said he and fellow travelers were free from such limitations on his trip from Beijing although security officers combed through his luggage.

"It's fine - it's for safety," he said.

Meanwhile, Canadian Sylvia Lessard was perplexed no one required her to take off her heavy winter boots when moving through a checkpoint at Quebec City Jean Lesage International Airport.

Instead officers scanned her hair, belt and underarms - but no boots.

"It would be easy to hide something in there," the physical therapist said.

Steve Welch was on the same flight and was still irked by the fact he'd been told to go back and check his carry-on bag after getting to the head of a security line.

But the Denver businessman had no objections to the controversial full-body scanners expected to arrive at O'Hare the first half of 2010.

"You gotta do what you gotta do," Welch said.

Seasoned traveler Morgan Tangent also took the technology in stride. The body-scanning machines use low-level X-rays or radio waves to create a contour-revealing image of passengers that helps detect contraband.

"Everyone is concerned about privacy," Tangent said. "You don't want to be stared at, but you have to give up some liberties to make everyone safe."

The Aurora resident was in Terminal 1 on his way home from North Carolina. The domestic flight was routine, he said. "I didn't see any significant changes," he said, "although they're more careful about what's in your bags."

To sum up, I while found multiple approaches to security. Most passengers seemed unified in their willingness to cooperate, as long as the government did its part after the intelligence-gathering debacle allowing Abdulmutallab to get on the plane armed with deadly explosives.

"They could have caught it and they should have caught it," Tangent said.

And on that note, here's some advice from - yes, a government agency.

The Transportation Security Administration is reminding people traveling from or through "countries of interest" that they'll be subject to enhanced screening. The countries include: Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.

Also:

• If you're departing from an American airport, procedures haven't changed although expect a beefed-up security presence. Passengers wearing hats or bulky clothing could be subject to extra screening.

• The TSA advises fliers to give themselves extra time at the airport.

• And, how long will all these measures be in place? You're guess is as good as mine.