"Smaller Explosive-Detection Equipment Planned At Airport"

Saturday, November 2, 2002

Smaller Explosive-Detection Equipment Planned At Airport
Switch To Federal Screeners Set for Wednesday 
By Robin Mero 
The Northwest Arkansas Morning News


HIGHFILL -- The Transportation Security Administration agreed this week
to place smaller types of explosive-detection machines at the Northwest
Arkansas Regional Airport, but they will still crowd the lobby, said
Airport Director Kelly Johnson. 

All U.S. airports are to receive the screening machines by Dec. 31. 

The TSA wanted to place larger, automated machines that operate similar
to CAT scans, but they're as big as sport-utility vehicles, Johnson
said. 

During a Wednesday meeting in Little Rock with officials from TSA and
Boeing -- a subcontractor providing the equipment -- Johnson negotiated
for smaller, stainless-steel mobile units called explosive
trace-detection systems. 

Three pods of equipment will be installed in the lobby of the terminal
building, in front of airline ticket counters. Travelers will have their
bags tagged at the ticket counters, then take them to the stations to be
"swabbed." 

The process involves a wand being rubbed outside or inside the luggage,
then placed in the equipment, which "detects chemicals or items that
would be included in an explosive device," she said. 

Travelers can wait with their luggage, or leave it behind and go on to
their flights. 

The smaller equipment is less automated and requires two operators per
machine. 

The lobby is already "very well utilized and even this solution will
make it pretty crowded," Johnson said. Negotiations are under way with
the Federal Aviation Administration for funds to speed up expansion of
the terminal building. 

Ideally, space will be added in back of the ticket counters so that
screening takes place behind the scene. Because the airport averages
35,000 passengers per month, Johnson estimated up to 80,000 pieces of
luggage are handled monthly, depending on the season. 

The airport is already out of counter space for airlines and expansion
is on the horizon, but this "should speed it up, since security issues
are being funded as a priority," she said. 

"Hopefully, the public will bear with us until we come up with a
permanent solution to deal with something we never anticipated. Every
airport in the country is in the same situation." 

Another concern is a lack of space in the upstairs lobby, where carry-on
luggage is screened. Federal security agents will take over the process
Wednesday, as part of a congressional mandate for all commercial
airports to switch from private to federal screening by Nov. 19. 

A second screening lane was added this summer. Waiting times, which at
times exceeded 23 minutes, have gone away. Johnson said, "We can open
the second lane when it's busy, but we'll have to reconfigure upstairs
equipment before the end of the year" to make more space. 

Some employees of ITS Inc., which has handled XNA security since the
airport opened three years ago, have been hired as federal screeners. 

Others are being hired to operate American Eagle's new curbside baggage
check service, which begins Nov. 15. 

Federal screeners must meet stricter standards, then receive 44 hours of
training in a classroom and 60 hours on the job. Almost 270 of the
nation's 429 commercial airports had federal screeners as of last week,
according to the TSA Web site. 

Also next week, the airport's new on-site deputy federal security
director, Mike Cox, will be in place, Johnson said. Cox was formerly in
the FAA's civil-aviation sector field office in Dallas.


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