"Stricter airport security means more inconveniences"

Monday, May 27, 2002

Stricter airport security means more inconveniences
By Ken Kaye
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel


Come January, airline passengers could face even longer security lines and
hours of flight delays while the government struggles to inspect all checked
luggage for explosives.

South Florida airports in particular may be plagued with delay problems
because most passengers begin their trips here, as opposed to making
connections, which requires more bags to be examined. "We may be talking
about one hour or two hours [of baggage inspection time] if we don't have
enough machines and people," said Stephen Van Beek, senior vice president of
the Airports Council International, based in Washington, D.C.

Currently, the bomb-detection process results in virtually no delays --
because so few checked bags are inspected.

By congressional mandate, however, By Dec. 31, all checked baggage must be
screened either by massive explosive-detection machines or smaller trace
units that involve swiping an item and testing it for particles.

U.S. airlines haul about 1.5 billion pieces of luggage each year.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said 1,100 explosive-detection
machines and 4,700 trace detection systems will be installed at 429
commercial airports this year.

Some airline industry insiders question whether that will be enough. By some
estimates, 2,200 explosive-detection machines will be needed immediately and
more than 5,000 machines in the long run to avoid long security lines and
air traffic slowdowns.

There also are questions whether the government can be ready by Dec. 31 with
1,100 machines. Now, only about 200 machines are operating nationwide, with
about 500 more ordered and paid for.

Another 400 machines are needed and each takes about two months to build and
deliver.

Only two companies currently are certified to manufacture them, InVision
Technologies, of Newark, Calif., and L-3 Communications, of New York.

On Wednesday, the American Association of Airport Executives released a
survey showing 78 percent of its membership would like to see Congress delay
that deadline, fearing customer service will be hurt and saying more time is
needed to do the inspections properly.

Most machines inspect between 150 to 250 items per hour. At that rate, a
flight with more than 200 passengers could be delayed up to an hour unless
more than one machine is used.

In addition, the amount of time hinges on the proficiency of a human
operator, who must study images on a screen and cross them against a
database of images of explosive substances.

Some critics question the overall effectiveness of the machines. Reliable in
finding large explosives, the machines are less so with thin sheet
explosives used in military demolition, construction and mining.

Nonetheless, the Transportation Security Administration, recently empowered
to oversee airline security, is studying how many machines and screeners
each airport needs.

The 129 biggest airports, such as those in Miami, New York, Chicago or Los
Angeles, likely will receive most of the explosive detection machines, which
cost about $1 million apiece.

Smaller airports, such as those in Tallahassee, Melbourne or Daytona, will
likely use the trace detection machines, which cost about $40,000 apiece.
Some, such as Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach international airports, will
use a combination.

A major problem: explosive-detection machines already have a track record of
frequent false alarms, requiring that a suitcase be double- and sometimes
triple-checked. The bag owner also may be called to answer questions, taking
several minutes.

Although Mineta has said he would like to see passengers wait no more than
10 minutes to have both carry-on and checked luggage scanned, that's
unlikely in the near future, aviation insiders say.

"The Transportation Security Administration is a security-first operation,"
Van Beek said. "But they have to make this work in tandem with saving time
and money."

Meanwhile, the airline industry anticipates a strong rebound in passenger
traffic by 2003, meaning millions more pieces of luggage would be put
through the system.

Until Dec. 31, the TSA is requiring airlines to match each bag with a
passenger, a system critics say would not stop a suicide bomber. Still, it
is the best short-term security measure, aviation experts say.

The TSA hopes to meet the deadline "as efficiently as we can, so it won't
affect schedules and won't lengthen time passengers wait in airports," said
spokesman Paul Turk.

Miami International Airport already has nine machines and will "need almost
five or six times that many," said airport spokeswoman Alicia Diaz.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has only one machine but
could need as many as 30 during the next five years in light of its
explosive growth, officials said. The airport saw its busiest March ever
with 1.74 million passengers.

Palm Beach International Airport currently has no machines and doesn't know
when or whether it will get them, spokeswoman Lisa De La Rionda said.

Still up in the air: whether to put the machines near check-in counters or
closer to the ramps where bags are loaded onto the planes.

Airport operating authorities say they would prefer the 25-foot-long
machines be near the check-ins, but many airports lack the necessary lobby
space.

For that reason, some airports might need to redo check-in areas and
re-enforce their floors to support up to 8.5 tons of weight.

A concern, Van Beek said, is that the machines will be "parachuted" into
airports to meet the Dec. 31 deadline. Yet much better planning and
engineering will be needed in the long term, and that might require airports
to rip out the machines and pay for a second costly installation.

Although TSA is paying for the machines, a question remains as to who should
pay for the airport improvements to accommodate them.

For now, many airports plan to spend large sums in anticipation of
reconfiguration costs.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International has budgeted $100 million during the
next five years for security improvements. "That was not only to cover these
issues, but any other security issues we may not be aware of at this time,"
said Diana Lewis, the airport's director of planning and development.

Miami International has allocated $18.7 million while Palm Beach
International so far has budgeted an additional $1.5 million.

Meanwhile, the TSA must await congressional approval for $4.4 billion to
order the remaining machines needed. That is expected the end of this month
at the earliest.

Only then can the TSA assign machines to airports.

"Officially, the Department of Transportation has said over and over, we
will meet this deadline," Turk said.

Even so, Van Beek noted the TSA would need a trial period to test the
machines and see how they will affect passenger waiting times and flight
delays.

"You don't want to try them out on Dec. 31, during a holiday period," he
said.

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