"O'Hare to get U.S. funds for inline bag screening system"

Friday, May 7, 2004

O'Hare to get U.S. funds for bag screening
$37.5 million isn't enough, city says
By Jon Hilkevitch
The Chicago (IL) Tribune


After previously rejecting funding pleas to help the world's busiest airport
build a sophisticated baggage-screening system, the federal government
Thursday said it will provide $37.5 million for O'Hare International
Airport.

The belated funding pledge from the Transportation Security Administration
represents only a down payment, said Chicago Aviation Commissioner John
Roberson. More than $144 million is still needed to update and make more
efficient the baggage and passenger screening required after 9/11 at
Chicago's two airports, he said.

"The $37.5 million is going to help get the projects started, but the money
falls woefully short of what our total needs are," said Roberson, who was in
Washington Thursday to press the city's case at the security agency and with
Illinois' congressional delegation. "Given O'Hare's importance, we should be
given priority."

Midway Airport, the fastest-growing large U.S. airport, has received no
federal commitment to help fund about $80 million in planned enhancements
for baggage and passenger screening, according to the Chicago Department of
Aviation. The improvements include building a second pedestrian bridge
leading to a new passenger security checkpoint.

Eight other airports previously were granted a total of $956.6 million from
the security agency over the next three years to deploy the screening
system. The airports are in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Las
Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Seattle-Tacoma.

Airports given the highest funding priority have not consistently met rules
that require all checked bags to be screened electronically for explosives,
or they didn't have enough explosives detectors, said security agency
spokeswoman Amy von Walter.

O'Hare hasn't had those problems. It was the first airport in the U.S. to
comply with the 100 percent baggage-screening rule that went into effect
last year.

Chicago's state-of-the-art baggage screening system will be built this
summer in O'Hare's international terminal, followed by United Airlines'
Terminal 1 and American Airlines' Terminal 3, officials said.

Behind-the-scenes conveyor systems that automatically route baggage through
explosives detectors would dramatically improve screeners' ability to find
explosives and other dangerous items in checked luggage, security experts
said. Explosives detectors are now located mainly inside crowded airport
lobbies.

Screening of checked baggage would disappear from public sight, eliminating
the need for passengers to sometimes open their suitcases for inspection at
the ticket counter.

The more efficient high-tech system also would help the airlines cut flight
delays caused by lost baggage and the time-consuming security procedures
enacted after the terrorist attacks in 2001.

The improvements needed at O'Hare total $102 million for baggage systems and
revamped passenger-screening checkpoints in the terminals, said aviation
department spokeswoman Monique Bond.

O'Hare was among many airports left out of the original funding because
there is no more money available until the White House and Congress
authorize additional funds, von Walter said. She said the agency's acting
administrator, Rear Adm. David Stone, made a special case for O'Hare by
tapping into a separate fund to come up with the $37.5 million.

"We know the funding announced today will not cover the total costs at
O'Hare, but it will help defray them," she said.


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

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


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