Action on McCarran International Airport Lines Promised

Thursday, February 19, 2004

Action on Airport Lines Promised
Las Vegas Review-Journal 


WASHINGTON -- Airport security officials are being
given more flexibility to adjust passenger screening
procedures to help speed travelers through McCarran
International Airport, officials said Wednesday. 

The head of the Transportation Security Administration
authorized the changes, as well as the hiring of more
inspectors, last Thursday after speaking with Sens.
John Ensign, R-Nev., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., agency
officials and the senators said. 

The changes, however, were not put in place in time to
avoid a second major backup of passengers at the
airport in the past month. 

This past Monday, the end of the holiday weekend and
the wrap-up of two major conventions created a mass
exodus that saw checkpoint lines snaking through the
airport and individual delays of two hours and longer.


Reid and Ensign got TSA acting Administrator David
Stone to promise immediate action on implementing
changes at the airport following disastrous congestion
at McCarran on Jan. 11, the final day of the Consumer
Electronics Show. 

Even during nonholidays, peak-period delays have
climbed from an hour last year to as many as four
hours, according to passenger accounts. 

As McCarran goes, so goes Las Vegas tourism and the
local economy, Stone was reminded during a telephone
call arranged by the Nevada senators. 

"Whatever we wanted done, he said he would do it,"
Reid said of Stone. "I'm confident it will be better."


The upshot, Ensign said, is that TSA officials and
McCarran managers now will be allowed flexibility to
adapt checkpoint procedures to foot traffic in the
terminal in ways that do not compromise security. 

"Safety has to come first," Ensign said. 

Reid said he would measure the TSA's effectiveness
over the Easter weekend, the next big holiday expected
to boost tourist air travel to Southern Nevada. 

Jim Blair, who oversees TSA operations at McCarran,
said Stone authorized changes involving procedures at
the 25 checkpoints where passengers pass through
magnetometers and their carry-ons and laptops are
conveyered through X-ray devices. 

"What we are trying to do is implement procedures to
enhance the flow-through of passengers and those are
being implemented during peak times," Blair said. 

The Review-Journal learned of several specific
alterations to McCarran security but agreed not to
publish details at the TSA's request. 

While individual changes in procedures may spare only
seconds per passenger, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.,
said time savings could add up quickly when multiplied
by thousands who pass through security. 

"It's been my impression from speaking with the acting
director and attending briefings that the TSA is very
aware of the issue and is moving with all deliberate
haste to address the problem," Berkley said. 

Speeding passengers and carry-ons through checkpoints
was among a series of measures the federal agency has
agreed to implement under pressure from lawmakers and
Clark County managers. 

Blair said TSA is 105 workers short of its authorized
strength at McCarran but now plans to hire 350 more by
mid-summer. Most are expected to be employed as
security screeners, with some expected to station six
new checkpoints that will open later this year. 

Ensign said Stone promised the additional checkpoints
would be fully-staffed. 

TSA officials were called to testify at a
congressional hearing last week where problems at
McCarran were a major topic. Afterward, Rep. Jon
Porter, R-Nev., said the agency promised to work with
national trade associations and large event planners
to inform conventiongoers of ways to keep the lines
moving at the airport. 

Porter said the agency also promised to install
"larger and more readable signs" directing travelers
through the checkpoints. 

"From a big picture perspective, the new screeners
will make a difference, too," Porter said. 

Additionally, airport manager Randy Walker is spurring
development of oversized bins in which passengers can
place their carry-on luggage, overcoats and laptop
computers. 

Besides being larger, Ensign said the new bins will be
compartmentalized, allowing travelers to run all their
carry-ons through the X-ray screens in one swoop. 

Airport officials have reported some travelers filling
as many as four smaller bins, requiring each one to be
run through the machine in a time consuming process.



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