"Former TSA employee says problems persist at Colorado Springs Airport"

Wednesday, May 18, 2004

Former employee says problems persist at Colorado Springs Airport
Former Colorado Springs TSA Supervisor Says Airport Security There Is Sloppy
And Understaffed
by Tak Landrock
KRDO-TV News Ch 13 Colorado Springs (CO)

 
As the summer travel season begins, the federal government is warning that
airports across the country may have long lines. 

But Bill Ray, a former Transportation Security Administration supervisor
whose job was eliminated about a year ago, says he wouldn't fly out of the
springs airport for any reason. 

He says understaffing and low morale are problems for screeners at the local
airport. 

Richard Fought, the federal director of security at the Springs airport,
says there should be 105 screeners, but currently there are 99. That's ten
fewer than last year. 

But according to the director, things are running pretty much smoothly,
"we're running [waits of] 10 to 15 minutes, which is pretty tolerable...we
do our best to minimize the wait time to get through processing."

But former TSA supervisor Bill Ray says they're speeding up lines at a cost
to safety. 

Ray was fired last year for complaining that security procedures were not
being followed.

According to Ray, pressure from airlines and passengers forces TSA workers
to move at a faster rate, which results in less thorough security procedures
being performed.

He points out that one checkpoint looking for explosives is sometimes
bypassed entirely. 

He says baggage is supposed to be checked if it's flagged, but many times
it's not. 

Ray describes a typical scenario, "Maybe a screener says 'I don't want to do
a full bag, I am just going to do clothes' after they test it with an e-t-d.
But those policies aren't being followed, they say 'the heck with it'." 

But Richard Fought, disagrees. "We have a coded process to make sure the
proper number of bags, proper ratios, are opened and the contents gone
through. And with some bags that isn't necessary.

Richard Fought says worker morale is on the rise at the airport, and he is
happy with the job his employees are doing.


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