"Fears Arise for Las Vegas Airport Disruption due to New Security Procedure"

Thursday, September 26, 2002

Fears Arise for Las Vegas Airport Disruption due to New Security
Procedure
The Las Vegas (NV) Review-Journal


A new security procedure being tested at two Southern California
airports would likely slow or disrupt passenger traffic if put in place
at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, several aviation industry
sources said Wednesday. 

The Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday it has launched
a pilot program designed to improve airport security while allowing
ticketed passengers to move more easily through affected airport
terminals. 

Under the new process, all passenger identification and security checks
would occur at an airport's primary security checkpoints, thereby
eliminating the need for random security checks now commonly performed
on passengers moments before they board a plane. 

"We'd do (searches at checkpoints) instead of at the gates, which
ultimately is better for everybody," TSA spokeswoman Heather Rosenker
said. "Once they're through that security checkpoint, (passengers) don't
have to be bothered by any other security entities."

Because the program requires passengers to obtain a boarding pass before
they pass through security checkpoints, however, critics contend it will
slow most "quick trip" passengers who now avoid ticketing lines by using
only electronic tickets and carry-on baggage. The new system would force
many such travelers to obtain a boarding pass by waiting at ticketing
counters in the same manner as travelers checking bags. 

About 30 percent, or nearly 11 million, of McCarran's 36 million
passengers last year were e-ticket or carry-on passengers, said Clark
County Deputy Director of Aviation Rosemary Vassiliadis. She said the
use of TSA's new program in Las Vegas would likely stretch the limits of
McCarran's already crowded main terminal. 

"Our ticketing space is very constrained, so it would bring a tremendous
amount of people through ticketing that right now go directly through
the checkpoints," Vassiliadis said. "I'm really concerned about this."

Southwest Airlines, which uses open seating and a numbered boarding
system in place of traditional boarding passes, would oppose the
implementation of a single-checkpoint program at McCarran and other busy
airports it serves, said Angela Vargo, spokeswoman for the Dallas-based
carrier. 

"Issuing boarding cards prior to security checkpoints would not work for
Southwest Airlines in a high-volume airport like McCarran," said Vargo,
whose airline is McCarran's busiest carrier this year with 7.3 million
passenger arrivals and departures through August. "That airport has a
very small lobby and the new TSA program could cause long lines at the
security checkpoints and at the ticket counters."

Rosenker acknowledged forcing passengers to obtain a boarding pass could
present problems for certain carriers, particularly Southwest. 

"Southwest doesn't do boarding passes because they have a different
procedure, but we're not (currently) doing this anywhere Southwest
flies,"Rosenker said. 

Aviation expert Mike Boyd, often a vocal critic of TSA, dismissed the
new program as "knee-jerk, amateur act posturing" that will not improve
passenger safety but will force passengers to endure more delays. 

"A year ago, 19 people killed 3,000 citizens and these guys (TSA) still
aren't really sure what they're going to do with airport security," said
Boyd, who is president of the Boyd Group, a Denver-area aviation
consulting firm. 

"(TSA's) `We're going to try this' and `We're going to try that'
approach is continually achieving what (Sept. 11 terrorist ringleader)
Mohamed Atta wanted to accomplish, which is to choke our air
transportation system."

TSA has no current plans to expand the pilot program beyond Los Angeles
International Airport's Terminal 4 and Long Beach Municipal Airport,
where it is being tested in conjunction with American Airlines and
JetBlue Airways. If successful in California, however, the program could
soon be used at other U.S. airports, Rosenker said. 

So far, American Airlines and JetBlue executives have praised TSA's
efforts to improve security and customer service at the nation's
airports. In addition, the manager of Long Beach Municipal Airport said
congestion in and around the departure gates has been reduced
dramatically because of the program.


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