"San Jose, Calif. airport security chief resigns"

Thursday, August 12, 2004

SJ airport security chief resigns
By Chuck Carroll
The San Jose (CA) Mercury News


The first federal security director at Mineta San Jose International
Airport resigned today for personal reasons after less than two years on
the job, the Transportation Security Administration announced today.

James A. Thomas III, a former Air Force arms-control strategist with a
background in military security and law enforcement, was named the top
cop for the South Bay's airport in October 2002.

Thomas' resignation is effective immediately.

Skip Williams, the security director in Orange County, was named acting
chief in San Jose until a permanent replacement is named in a few weeks,
said Nico Melendez, West Coast spokesman for the TSA.

Thomas oversaw the hiring of hundreds of federal baggage screeners to
replace those employed by the airlines before the terror attacks of
September 2001. He also supervised and coordinated efforts to meet a
federal deadline for all airports to screen 100 percent of baggage. The
San Jose airport processed nearly 11 million passengers last year and
currently handles more than 500 departures and landings each day.

Thomas did not immediately return a call for comment.

Airport spokesman Rich Dressler said the facility's management was
surprised by Thomas' decision.

``This is out of the blue,'' he said when the Mercury News informed
about him about the impending departure. He said he was unaware of any
problem severe enough to force him to leave.

Although activity at the airport is approaching pre-Sept. 11 levels, in
March, the Transportation Security Administration reduced the number of
screeners at the San Jose airport from 423 full-time positions to 356.

City and state officials met with Thomas in late June to express their
concern that a lack of baggage screeners would lengthen lines at the
airport as demand grows. They left that meeting saying they felt they
had a commitment from Thomas to hire more screeners as business
increases.

Airport officials say 500 screeners will be needed when the new north
concourse opens in late 2007.

Thomas's exit from Mineta San Jose by no means marks the first such
departure since the post of federal security director was created about
two months after hijackers flew commercial jetliners into the Pentagon
and the World Trade Center in September 2001.

In May 2003, the Washington Post noted that federal security directors
at five of the nation's biggest airports -- Washington's Reagan
National, New York's La Guardia, Chicago O'Hare International, Denver
International and Los Angeles International -- had walked out after
barely a year in their posts.

Some simply moved on to new challenges after meeting certain challenges,
such as federal deadlines for implementing new security measures. Others
spoke anonymously of their disappointment that the TSA seemed to be
increasingly concerned with pleasing the airlines than with providing
top-notch security, the Post reported. These officials expressed
frustration that they spent more time smoothing over political feuds and
handling personnel issues than attending to security improvements.

Since the Post report, other federal security directors have quit,
including the top cop at Douglas International Airport in Charlotte,
N.C., a USAir hub. In Louisville, Ky., the director was forced out after
it was revealed he was using his credentials to avoid checkpoint
screening when he and his wife traveled.

Federal security directors earn as much as $150,000 a year. They are
charged with working with city leaders, local police departments,
airport officials and the airlines to coordinate security. They have the
power to shut down airports or evacuate them in the event of a security
threat.

Security was turned over to the federal government in response to the
perceived conflicting goals of the airlines, which previously were in
charge of both security and making sure passengers didn't have to wait
in long lines for screening before boarding.

In San Jose, Thomas also oversaw airport security at the Monterey
Peninsula Airport and Modesto City-County Airport.


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