"3 airport screeners fired at New Orleans airport"

Friday, June 28, 2002

3 airport screeners fired 
Lawmakers briefed by federal agency 
By Bruce Alpert 
The New Orleans (LA) Times-Picayune


WASHINGTON -- Responding to recent security breaches at Louis Armstrong
International Airport, two security screeners and one manager have been
fired and all remaining screeners given additional training, Louisiana
congressmen were told Thursday.

The private briefing with officials from the federal Transportation
Security Administration was requested by Louisiana members of the House
of Representatives after a man got through a security checkpoint with
two loaded semiautomatic pistols in his backpack last month, the fourth
in a series of security breaches at the New Orleans airport.

"Obviously, the federal government and the private security firms are
taking this very seriously, and several people have been fired over
these incidents, and significant training has been provided," said Rep.
David Vitter, R-Metairie. "But we need to keep the pressure on, and
that's what Rep. Jefferson and I said at the meeting."

William Jefferson, a New Orleans Democrat, said the Transportation
Security Administration, represented by Deputy Secretary Michael
Jackson, also vowed to finish the airport security takeover from
Huntleigh USA of St. Louis and International Total Services of Cleveland
by Nov. 19, the deadline set by Congress. Lawmakers created the agency
to tighten airport security after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"The bottom line is that we have to keep the heat on them so that they
understand how people back home feel about this and how important it is
to get things done," Jefferson said.

Representatives of the two security firms, Huntleigh USA and
International Total Services, who attended the session declined comment
after the meeting. Deirdre O'Sullivan, spokeswoman for the
Transportation Security Administration, said the agency wants Congress
and the public to know it is responding quickly to security problems.

"We take the security concerns very seriously, and not only do we
investigate every incident, but we also strive for lessons learned on
what we can do to make sure those incidents don't occur again,"
O'Sullivan said.

She said this week that the agency replaced private security guards with
federal employees at airports in Louisville , Ky., and Mobile, Ala. The
first such change occurred at Baltimore-Washington airport.

The agency has begun advertising for job applicants at 26 other airports
and soon will run ads for screeners at the remaining 400 airports,
including Louis Armstrong, O'Sullivan said.

The screeners will be paid between $23,600 and $35,400 a year, depending
on experience, and will receive 44 hours of classroom instruction and 60
hours of on-the-job training. Those now holding the private screening
jobs can apply but are not guaranteed employment.

Rep. John Cooksey, R-Monroe, who attended the briefing, said enhanced
security is the best way to discourage potential terrorists. He said he
hopes that the promised enhancements "are being implemented very
quickly.

The security breaches at the New Orleans airport have gotten national
attention. There have been four cases since October in which knives or
guns were carried through security checkpoints without being discovered,
only to be found later -- three as a result of random searches at the
boarding gate. In one incident, a passenger informed the flight crew
that he had inadvertently carried a derringer aboard in his briefcase.

In a fifth incident in May, a man fired a shotgun in the ticket lobby,
injuring two people. One of the victims, a customer at the Southwest
Airlines ticket counter, later died of her wounds. The alleged gunman,
Patrick Gott, of Pensacola, Fla., did not have to go through any
security checkpoints.


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