"Airports cinch security nets"

Tuesday, September 25, 2001

Airports cinch security nets
SCREENING: Concourses around the state act to reduce threat. 
By Tony Hopfinger 
The Anchorage (AK) Daily News 


Mark Schaeffer knows of only one security breech while he was a
passenger screener at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

He failed to uncover a "bomb" inside a bag.

It was a test by Federal Aviation Administration agents about a year ago
to see how well Schaeffer and his co-workers at Huntleigh USA Corp. were
doing their jobs. Huntleigh is a private contractor that does passenger
screening at Concourse B.

"The FAA gets through every now and then," Schaeffer said in an
interview Monday. He has worked as a screener for nearly four years. "A
lot of employees just don't care. They just want to get the lines
thinned out." 

Since the Sept. 11 hijackings and attacks, security employees nationwide
have told the tale of a security industry plagued with high turnover and
wages almost equal to those in the fast-food business.

Passenger screening was among a number of issues that surfaced Monday at
an airport security hearing in Anchorage put on by the state Senate
Transportation Committee. More than 50 people attended, from airline
executives to airport managers to citizens offering tips on how to
improve security.

The FAA's new security requirements affect not only Anchorage but dozens
of far-flung airports statewide. And transportation officials are
concerned about whether some airports can afford to comply with the new
standards. 

In certain instances, small airports are having to rely on town police
officers to patrol the airport because they don't have enough security
officers. The extra duty takes police officers away from their normal
routines.

"We're short-handed, and we have plenty of business to take care of
ourselves," Gary Eilers, Yakutat's police chief, said from his office
Monday. Eilers does the morning shift at the airport. "On the other
hand, we don't want Alaska Airlines to stop flying here. It's our
lifeline."

Much of Monday's hearing discussed the need to tighten passenger
screening and airport employee checkpoints.

Mort Plumb, director of Anchorage's international airport, said security
has been "complacent" because there hasn't been a major incident in
years. Now steps are being taken to improve, he said, like placing
airport police officers at passenger checkpoints.

Plumb declined to identify every new security measure, saying some are
being implemented covertly. Some airport employees said they didn't
notice many changes until last weekend.

"They have stepped it up quite a bit now," Ted Angstadt, a part-time
mechanic at Evergreen International Airlines, said in an interview
Monday evening.

Still, he fears the next attack on America might come not from a
passenger jet but from a Boeing 747 cargo jet loaded with 200,000 pounds
of fuel.

The Anchorage airport is one of the world's busiest pit stops for
freight jetliners. The huge cargo planes fly mostly between the Lower 48
and Asia, stopping in Anchorage to refuel, change crews, swap freight
and clear customs.

"The cargo is so tight in those planes that (somebody) could sneak
inside, wait for takeoff and charge the cockpit," Angstadt said. "It
would actually be easier to take over the plane because they wouldn't
have passengers fighting them off."

On the passenger side of the business, the airline industry has said it
wants the federal government to take over screening passengers for
weapons and explosives, a task that has fallen largely on the shoulders
of private security contractors, like Huntleigh USA.

Critics contend these contractors undermine their vital role in
passenger safety when they pay workers such low wages that it encourages
high turnover.

Jessica Neal, a spokeswoman from Huntleigh's St. Louis headquarters,
declined to comment on the claims.

But Schaeffer, who says he last worked part time for Huntleigh last
month, has firsthand knowledge of problems. Training is not always taken
seriously, he said, and employees have even fallen asleep on the job.

Huntleigh's starting wage in Anchorage is $7.50 an hour, according to a
newspaper ad published Monday.

"Every time I go out (to the airport), . . . there's a new face," he
said. "They don't offer any incentive to keep you there."

On Monday, the FAA said it is considering two changes to improve airport
security nationwide.

The agency said it might ask airports and airlines to verify employment
histories and check for criminal backgrounds among tens of thousands of
baggage handlers, food-service workers, mechanics and other people.

FAA officials also said they are considering banning early seat
selection and carry-on baggage.

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