"U.S. Makes Security Changes at Airports"

Saturday, August 2, 2003

U.S. Makes Security Changes at Airports
By WILLIAM C. MANN
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) - The government acted Saturday to make American commercial
airplanes less vulnerable to terrorists, requiring visas for people from
most countries when they travel through the United States from one foreign
airport to another.

The government suspended two programs that allowed foreigners to stay in
U.S. airports without visas while awaiting flights to other countries.

The State Department said al-Qaida and other terrorism organizations had
planned to use the programs to get access to flights to and from the United
States.

The lack of screening for visas could have allowed potential terrorists to
enter the country without being checked against federal lists of terrorism
suspects.

The action by the departments of State and Homeland Security was effective
at 11 a.m. EDT Saturday.

The departments "have received specific, credible intelligence ... that
certain terrorist organizations including al-Qaida have identified the visa
and passport exemptions of those programs as a means to gain access to
aircraft en route to and from the United States," State Department
spokeswoman Jo-Anne Prokopowicz said.

She said the intelligence included information from both the FBI and the
CIA.

The announcement said the suspension would be in effect for at least 60
days, during which public comment would be solicited. Both departments want
to reinstate the programs quickly, it said, but current intelligence will be
a factor on lifting the suspensions.

The suspension does not affect passengers from 27 "visa-waiver" countries,
mostly in Europe and the Far East and Southeast Asia.

Those most affected, who will no longer be granted visa-free entrance for
airport layovers, are passengers from Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, the
Philippines and Peru.

Hardest hit airports are the international airports in Los Angeles, Miami,
New York, Dallas and Houston.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., had complained to Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge last week about the potential for someone without a U.S.
visa "to take a flight from a country with less-stringent security to a U.S.
airport and possibly roam that U.S. airport during a layover."

Even for airports that isolate such passengers in secure areas, she wrote,
"it is extremely discomforting knowing that this is the most security that
could be imposed on a possible terrorist."

Ridge said in a statement Saturday that the suspensions, "while aggressive,
are an appropriate response to the threat. We know they will have an impact
on international travelers, but we believe they are necessary in order to
protect lives and property."

Airlines were instructed to stop allowing layovers by travelers under the
transit-without-visa or the international-to-international transit programs.

Homeland Security agencies also were acting to increase security at airports
and on airplanes that normally carry and process passengers under the
programs, the statement said.

The suspensions will hit both U.S. airlines and airports.

"My feeling generally is that although this will be an inconvenience to
passengers and could be financially harmful to airlines and airports, if we
need to do this for security reasons, then we should do it," David Stempler,
president of the Air Travelers Association, said.

U.S. commercial aviation still has not recovered from the Sept. 11, 2001,
terror attacks.

In the year that ended Sept. 30, 2001, the programs brought 1.6 million
travelers through U.S. airports en route to foreign destinations. For the
budget year that ended last Sept. 30, the total was 614,519.

American Airlines, which carried 93,328 passengers in 2002 under the
51-year-old transit-without-visas program, is the airline most severely
affected. Spokesman Carlo Bertolini would say only: "We comply, and we will
continue to comply, with all federal security directives."

Air carriers hardest hit by Saturday's government decision suspending rules
that waived visa requirements for many international passengers transiting
U.S. airports for connection flights to foreign destinations, with the
number of
passengers they carried in 2002:

Carrier                 Passengers

American Airlines       93,328

Continental Airlines    56,024

Japan Airlines          45,908

Varig, S.A.             32,354

Iberia                  23,396

Delta Airlines          20,920

United Airlines         18,699

Northwest Airlines      14,412

Korean Airlines         10,536

 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

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