"Airport Concession Workers Will Now Be Screened"

Thursday, July 8, 2004

Airport Workers Will Now Be Screened
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON - Tens of thousands of employees at airport restaurants,
newsstands and other shops behind security checkpoints will soon have to
undergo more detailed background checks and pass through metal detectors
on their way to work.

New directives issued late Tuesday by the Transportation Security
Administration also require all 445 commercial airports to reduce the
number of doors behind security checkpoints used by airport and airline
employees, and increase security for the remaining doors.

TSA spokesman Mark Hatfield Jr. said Wednesday the new rules are
designed to strengthen security and "identify and disrupt potential
threats to civil aviation."

Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, the ranking Democrat on the aviation
subcommittee of the House Transportation Committee, called the changes
long overdue. "I'm pleased that TSA has finally taken steps to close
these gaping security loopholes," he said.

"The agency still has plenty of work to do on providing screeners with
up-to-date equipment, decentralizing screener training and staffing and
securing the perimeters of U.S. airports, among other things," DeFazio
said, "but I don't want to take away from this important and significant
step."

DeFazio and other members of Congress had complained that private
employees working for airport vendors located behind security
checkpoints were not required to pass through metal detectors. Many
employees receive cursory background checks, he said.

Under the new rules, private employees will pass through screening every
day on their way to work. In addition, the TSA will require airports to
reduce the number of security identification badges issued to vendor
employees. Such badges allow access beyond the secure area to airport
tarmacs and the airplanes themselves.

Passengers and airline employees are already required to pass through
screening areas before being allowed to enter gate areas. The TSA,
looking to speed that process, began a pilot program in Minneapolis on
Wednesday that allows frequent fliers to avoid random searches by
submitting to background checks in advance.

On the Net:

Transportation Security Administration: http://www.tsa.gov


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