"San Jose, California airport logjam looming?"

Monday, October 7, 2002

Airport logjam looming?
By Andrew F. Hamm   
The San Jose (CA) Business Journal


It's supposed to get better, but airport delays would most likely get
worse come the new year unless San Jose's airport gets additional time
to meet federal regulations on airport security. 

The nation's 429 airports face a Dec. 31 federal deadline to ensure that
every bag boarding an aircraft is electronically scanned for explosives.
If the deadline isn't met, bags would have to be searched manually or
with bomb-sniffing dogs and would most likely cause significant flight
delays. 

"Yeah, the [San Jose] airport will need more time, definitely," says,
U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, who along with San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales chaired
a San Jose airport security task force. "[Airport officials] will have a
difficult time meeting the deadline." 

Mineta San Jose Airport officials have been criticized by federal
officials in recent days for failing to develop a plan to meet the Dec.
31 deadline. 

"We want San Jose to look a little harder to make that system work
there," says John Flaherty, chief of staff to U.S. Transportation
Secretary Norman Mineta, the airport's namesake. "They have a lot of
hard work ahead of them." 

But airport officials point out that the federal Transportation Security
Administration is ultimately responsible for the San Jose airport's
security plan. The airport still does not have a permanent TSA-appointed
federal security director, notes airport spokesman Jim Peterson. 

"There is no doubt that San Jose has short-term and long-term
challenges," Mr. Peterson says. "San Jose is not alone in this respect."


Indeed, a U.S. Senate bill written by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., would
exempt up to 40 airports - and perhaps more - from the Dec. 31
guideline. The bill cleared the Senate's Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee Sept. 19. Some estimates put the number of
airports that will have trouble meeting the federal regulations as high
as 75. Mr. Mineta, while not taking a formal position on the bill,
acknowledges that some airports will need additional time,
Transportation spokesman Chet Luner says. 

But eligible airports would have to spell out how they would use that
additional time to meet federal requirements in order to gain the
extension, Mr. Flaherty says. 

Mr. Peterson says San Jose airport is not counting on an extension in
order to meet the new federal regulations. He pledged that San Jose
airport will meet the Dec. 31 deadline one way or another. 

"We have a variety of options available to us and we will work out a
plan," he says. "While the regulations haven't changed, the ways
available to meet those [regulations] are changing all the time." 

That's not to say an extension wouldn't be welcomed, says David
Vossbrink, press secretary for Mr. Gonzales. 

"At first blush it makes all the sense in the world," Mr. Vossbrink
says. "We would want a little more time to make sure [the new security
measures] function properly in order to get people onto their flights in
a timely manner." 

Among the problems San Jose airport officials face is where to place its
large baggage-scanning devices and how to keep lines from spiraling out
of control while passengers and luggage are checked for weapons,
explosives and other contraband. 

San Jose airport officials would like to install baggage-scanning
machines on luggage conveyor belts to speed up the procedure and reduce
the number of people needed to operate the machines. 

San Jose airport's lobbies don't have the space for the 13-17 van-sized
baggage scanners needed to adequately scan everybody's luggage. San Jose
airport currently has two baggage-scanning devices that check
approximately 1 percent to 2 percent of the bags loaded onto flights. 

Some security checkpoints have already been redesigned to speed up the
flow through metal detectors, but others still cause problems, says TSA
agent Mark Pooler. 

"More space is needed and I'm not sure how we'll do that," Mr. Pooler
says. "We are in the process of defining how we will change things." 

Mr. Peterson says a plan is being developed by TSA and airport staff for
federal approval. He would not say if the airport will seek more time to
make the plan work. 

"It's a matter of what effect it will have on customer service," Mr.
Peterson says. "We can get it done, but what will it look like and how
will it effect customer service?" 

The airport's efforts are further hampered by the fact that installing
large numbers of baggage scanners in Terminal C could trigger state
seismic safety laws. Under state law, buildings being remodeled must
meet up-to-date earthquake safety regulations. Terminal C was
constructed in 1965. It is scheduled to be torn down when the airport
goes to a single terminal system, originally slated to be finished by
2009. 

Airport officials have discussed plans to build a separate building to
handle the baggage-scanning machines. Bags would be put on conveyor
belts that run through the scanning devices before being loaded onto
aircraft. That building could become the core to the new terminal, Mr.
Peterson says. Metropolitan Oakland International Airport is
constructing a similar building at its airport. 

Mr. Honda is seeking to make the San Jose airport eligible for a federal
pilot program that would allow airport officials to try experimental
ways to uphold security. Under the pilot program, airport officials
would be able to seek out innovative ways to meet federal security
guidelines. 

"That's why we put together the blue-ribbon task force, to find ways to
make this work," Mr. Honda says.


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID8

*****************************************