"Pittsburgh Airport likely to keep TSA screeners"

Monday, March 17, 2003 

Airport likely to keep TSA screeners
By Jim Ritchie
THE PITTSBURGH (PA) TRIBUNE-REVIEW


The post-9/11 law that booted private security firms from airports
nationwide and handed the job of screening passengers and luggage to
federal workers also allows airports to rehire the private security
companies next year. 

Pittsburgh International Airport's top executive, Kent George, won't
jump at the chance - and he's not alone. 

Most airports nationwide - including Pittsburgh International - likely
will stick with the federal screeners working for the Transportation
Security Administration. 

"I'm not going to recommend changing anything to my board at this time,"
said George, executive director of the Allegheny County Airport
Authority. 

The option to replace federal screeners is a little-known provision in
the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, passed by Congress in
November 2001 in response to the Sept. 11 attacks. The law created the
TSA and put it in charge of airport security, ousting the private firms
airlines paid to check boarding passengers. 

The law also allows airports to replace the federal screeners with
private firms starting in November 2004. Some federal security personnel
would remain at those airports to supervise private screeners. Unlike
the pre-2001 security setup at airports, the change would not put the
job of providing airport security back in the hands of airlines. 

"The system before was paid for and run by airlines," said Stephen Van
Beek, a senior vice president with Airports Council International's
North American office in Washington, D.C. The group is the premier
organization representing airport interests worldwide. 

"This . would be run by an airport or private security company with
direct oversight by the TSA," Van Beek said. 

Even though most airports aren't jumping at the option of replacing
federal screeners, many would like to - but only if they could take
total control of airport security without federal supervisors looking
over their shoulders, Van Beek said. Unless the law is changed to allow
that, few airports will make any change, he said. 

"I don't think a lot of folks are going to take advantage of it," he
said. 

The TSA has no plans to request a change in the law that would open the
door for airports to take back total control of the screening duties,
said Chris Rhatigan, an agency spokeswoman. 

"We get our marching orders from Congress, and it was pretty clear in
there what Congress and the American people wanted," Rhatigan said. 

Still, the TSA is required by the law to test a return to private
screeners. It's doing so through a pilot program at five airports: San
Francisco International, Kansas City International, Greater Rochester
International in New York, Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming and Tupelo
Airport in Mississippi. 

Airports aren't pressing the matter with Congress yet, mainly because
most are busy trying to meet federal mandates to install permanent
baggage screening systems - a costly and time-consuming process. 

Pittsburgh International has a temporary system working while a
permanent system is designed and built. 

Cost is an equally big question for airport directors. Now, federal
money and a surcharge on passenger tickets pay for much of airport
security. It's not clear whether the federal government would direct
money to those airports opting to take control of security. 

On round-trip tickets, airline passengers pay up to a $10 fee. That
money is used by the federal government to pay for airport security. 

"The money, the liability and a couple other issues have to be solved
before (the return to private firms) becomes widespread," Van Beek said.


One aviation expert said most airports would like to get rid of the
federal bureaucracy running security, but won't change because of
uncertainties about how it would be financed. 

"There's probably about 400 airports that would like to because
everybody's fed up with the TSA," said Mike Boyd, an aviation analyst
with the Boyd Group in Colorado. "If it could be paid for and managed
properly, it could be 10 times more efficient and more secure than what
we have out there." 

The private security firms had been criticized for years by members of
Congress and federal inspectors with the U.S. Department of
Transportation for lax security, which largely resulted from poor
training and low pay. The criticism crested following the 9/11 attacks
in which terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. 

Congress moved quickly to create the TSA.


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

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dc/dcboard.php

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