Public dilemmas about security measures in the field of civil aviation

New security measures in civil aviation have been introduced as a consequence of security incidents in the past decades and to prevent potential threats in the future. Some of these measures have provoked serious negative public reactions. This paper aims to analyse the current civil aviation security framework and related public dilemmas about individual security measures, such as body scanners, the exchange of passenger data and passenger profiling. Based on the analysis of media records, press releases and debates in the European parliament on civil aviation security, the paper confirms the argument that that civil aviation security is conflicted between the varied technical possibilities to improve security and the unintended negative effects on the public. Implementation of new security measures needs to consider social concerns, such as privacy, human rights and health, if legitimacy of civil aviation business is to be retained.