TSA Wants to Cut Steak Knives Out of Airport Restaurants

There's growing security concern over steak knives used at restaurants in airport terminals. According to the Los Angeles Times, unions representing TSA officers and flight attendants have recently expressed their anger over just how easy it is for passengers to sneak dangerous knives from airport restaurants onto airplanes. A spokesperson for TSA employees tells the LAT that he is "appalled at this flagrant violation of airport security."

The main issue is the lack of security checks once passengers enter the terminals where the restaurants are located. At Los Angeles International Airport's new 6,000-square-foot steakhouse III Forks, passengers were once handed serrated steal knives with their meals. Since the restaurant is located inside a terminal, the passengers had already passed through security and screening checkpoints.

The problem also occurred on the East Coast: Last week, at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City, a local news crew demonstrated just how easy it was to sneak off with the five-inch steak knives from two steakhouses within the airport. In response to the story, JFK officials banned metal steak knives "from restaurants inside the secure areas."

To combat the issue in Los Angeles, the airport first imposed a "knife-tracking system" where each knife was numbered and guests were asked to show identification and boarding passes. Eventually the system was too much of a hassle and people stopped asking for knives altogether. Instead they slice through their steaks with butter knives.

Thankfully for those flying out of JFK, there's always the option of Shake Shack, which requires no silverware whatsoever.