"W. Virginia airport chief tells senators federal screeners are best"

Friday, June 25, 2004

Yeager chief tells senators federal screeners are best 
Airports soon can go with private contractors again
The Associated Press

  
Airport screeners who are federal employees do a better job than private
contractors ever did and are essential to air travel safety, Yeager
Airport Director Rick Atkinson has told the Senate Aviation
Subcommittee.

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller on Thursday also denounced efforts to
privatize airport security screeners, saying that would jeopardize the
quality of aviation security and oversight. Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the
ranking Democrat on the Aviation Subcommittee, said federal screeners
are especially crucial at small airports.

But Thomas Blank, assistant administrator at the Transportation Security
Administration, told the subcommittee that airports soon will have three
options: remain in the federal system, use a private contractor to hire
and train screeners, or run the screening themselves. They can apply for
a change in November.

Airport groups estimate between 20 and 100 of the 445 commercial
airports under the federal agency's supervision will choose to opt out
of the current system. Those that do will be able to leave the federal
system starting early next summer, Black said, though their security
systems still will be overseen by the agency.

Smaller airports are likely to be most interested in running their own
screening operations because it would be simpler. They would avoid red
tape from Washington while they could do their own hiring and training,
Black said.

Atkinson, however, said, "I can look back on the experience we had with
private security companies. It was a bad situation. They were paid low
wages and had old, outdated equipment. There was constant turnover.''

Previously, airlines at Yeager paid Globe Security, a private company,
to screen its passengers.

Globe employees only screened people walking through a security
checkpoint, not bags. Now, all bags on commercial flights are screened
at least once. If a bag sets off an alarm, or the screener sees
something suspicious, the bag is taken to another inspection station
where it's tested for explosives and hand searched.

The government's scanning equipment is more up-to-date than those owned
by private companies, Atkinson said after the hearing.

The agency received new screening equipment for its walkthrough
checkpoint when it took over Yeager's security in August 2002. It took
over baggage screening three months later. It also received a new
scanner in January that shows the baggage in a layered image, instead of
the former machine's two-dimensional X-ray style.

Atkinson said employee turnover has been lower since the agency took
over. Globe was authorized to have 16 employees, but only 11 or 12
actually worked at one time. Now, there are nearly 50 screeners employed
by the agency.

Atkinson stressed the need for screeners to be federal employees who
consider the public's safety before making a profit.

"I question whether or not a private contractor would be willing to
implement the best solution or if they would attempt to take . . .
action that would result in short-term savings and ignore the long-term
benefits.''

While he believes in free enterprise, he said things like providing a
national defense function are best left to the government.

"I believe that airline passenger screening is an essential national
defense action,'' Atkinson said.

In May, Rockefeller introduced an aviation security bill to standardize
federal screeners at airports across the nation. Rockefeller's bill
would require the agency to develop standards based on appropriate
levels of security and require the Department of Homeland Security to
consider coordinating aviation security work.


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