"Who's really in charge of airport security?"

Thursday, December 12, 2002 

Who's really in charge of airport security?
By Jim Ritchie
THE PITTSBURGH (PA) TRIBUNE-REVIEW


The same security companies Congress intended to replace at airports
nationwide with a force of federal screeners continue to make crucial
decisions at security checkpoints, including the one at Pittsburgh
International Airport. 

"I'm amazed that this is still going on," said Billie Vincent, Federal
Aviation Administration director of Civil Aviation Security from 1982 to
1986. "My concern is that we have relatively untrained individuals .
non-federal employees now making crucial decisions about who can go
through the screening checkpoint. That's unacceptable to me." 

The problem arose at Pittsburgh International on Sunday when a Huntleigh
USA employee allowed a man flashing someone else's constable's badge to
pass through the security checkpoint and into the restricted Airside
Terminal to a boarding gate. 

The man, Michael Kobold, who lives in Oakland, was found and arrested,
but the incident raises questions of why Huntleigh and other security
firms contracted by airlines remain on duty at airports. 

"We made a big deal about the Transportation Security Administration
taking over," Vincent said. "And if someone else has the authority to
let somebody in, other than a ticketed passenger or authorized official,
then the TSA is not in charge. Someone else is in charge. 

"It's not in accordance with my understanding of the new law, which says
the TSA does the screening," said Vincent, who now is president of
Aerospace Services International Inc., in Chantilly, Va. "One assumes
that the TSA would also do the ticket checking." 

Top aviation officials declined to discuss the situation on Wednesday.
Robert Blose, the TSA director in Pittsburgh, and Kent George, the
Allegheny County Airport Authority director, responded to questions
through spokeswomen. Heather Rosenker, at the TSA's Washington, D.C.,
headquarters, did not respond to questions about Huntleigh's role in
Pittsburgh. 

Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act in November
2001, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The law created the TSA
and ordered it to screen passengers and luggage, relieving airlines of
the responsibility. 

Despite the law, federal security officials say airlines still are
responsible for checking people for tickets and identifications, but
wouldn't say why. 

The TSA confirmed Huntleigh employees check tickets and identifications
"in front" of the security checkpoint at Pittsburgh International. As
passengers walk to the checkpoint, the Huntleigh employees stand about
10 feet ahead of the row of metal detectors and X-ray machines, which
are operated by federal employees. 

US Airways spokesman David Castelveter confirmed the people checking
identifications and tickets at Pittsburgh's security checkpoint are
Huntleigh personnel contracted by the airline, the airport's dominant
carrier. Castelveter declined further comment. 

TSA spokeswoman Heather Rosenker said the Huntleigh employees are not
really working at the checkpoint, just in front of it. Their
ticket-checking duties are not considered part of the security process,
even though they have the power to grant access to the restricted gate
area. 

"It is not considered a security role," Rosenker said. "It's a
documentation-check role. It's not part of the TSA security process,
really." 

TSA spokeswoman Christine Keaggy, based in Pittsburgh, said the job of
checking tickets and identifications remains in the hands of airlines. 

"As a rule, the duty of checking identifications is an airline duty,"
she said. "At one point in time, prior to the airports being
federalized, the TSA initially did oversee the contracted screeners. But
once each airport was federalized, the TSA no longer oversaw the
Huntleigh employees. They were all contracted by the airlines." 

Vincent, the former FAA security director, says checking tickets is a
part of the security process and should be the TSA's responsibility. 

"Make no mistake - (those checking tickets) are making security
decisions, and they are making crucial decisions," he said. 

The Pittsburgh International incident is among the growing number of
mistakes nationwide caused by poor decisions at the screening
checkpoints, said Mike Boyd, a Colorado aviation analyst. 

"This is not security," he said. "This is a great big Kabuki theater to
make us feel safer." 

The Allegheny County Airport Authority, which runs Pittsburgh
International, said security always will be handled by a mix of agencies
and companies. 

"There's constantly a number of public-safety entities coordinating
security together," said spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny. "All in all, that may
be a better mix. 

"This is the way it's set up and operated at every airport across the
United States." 

Neither Randy Loch, the ticket-checker involved in the Sunday incident
at Pittsburgh International, nor his employer, Huntleigh USA in St.
Louis, returned telephone messages seeking comment.

Attached Photo:

Constable William DeForte displays the Pennsylvania Constable badge
issued to him. On Sunday, a man flashing someone else's constable's
badge was allowed to pass through the security checkpoint and into the
restricted Airside Terminal to a boarding gate at Pittsburgh
International Airport.

PH_2002-12-12_badge-a.jpg