"Lindbergh Field endures 2nd day of tight security"

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Airport carries on in second day of greater security 
By Jeff Ristine and Karen Kucher
The San Diego (CA) Union-Tribune


California National Guard troops were peering into carry-on bags, and
luggage carts bulged with additional checked baggage yesterday as Lindbergh
Field settled comfortably into the new version of its security practices. 

At least 70 unarmed National Guard personnel were deployed to San Diego
International Airport to help conduct additional inspections of carry-on
bags at terminal gates. Behind the scenes, they were also assisting security
personnel screen checked baggage for explosives. 
 
The Guard troops, on hand for the first flights out of Lindbergh Field
yesterday, were called up by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who also sent
personnel to the San Francisco and Los Angeles airports. An offer for
Oakland was declined.
 
In San Diego, the troops were working side-by-side with officers from the
federal Transportation Security Administration, who normally handle
passenger and baggage screening. 

During a brief period in which news media were allowed to observe at
Terminal 1 yesterday, the gate inspections - conducted just as passengers
were about to enter their jetways - were going quickly, typically taking
just a matter of seconds. 

Guard Capt. Jorge Hernandez said the personnel were called up from units
based in San Diego, National City and El Centro. There was no word on how
long they would remain stationed at Lindbergh Field. 

Meanwhile, lines at security checkpoints returned to normal as passengers
adapted to new rules banning beverages, gels and a variety of toiletries
from aircraft cabins. 

A Southwest Airlines customer-service representative, Rich Koenig, said
there had been "a significant increase in the number of checked bags" in
response to the list of newly prohibited items in aircraft cabins. 

Inside the terminal, operations were "definitely smoother" than Thursday,
when the new rules were announced, Koenig said. Passengers are "showing up
early, and they have themselves organized." 

On the runway, takeoffs and landings were returning to normal, too. 

"We had a handful of arrival delays in the morning from the East Coast,"
said airport spokeswoman Diana Lucero. "By mid-morning, all arrivals were on
track, and we had no departure delays." 

The airport still was asking travelers to show up two hours before their
flights to allow enough time for the new screening procedures. Longer lines
for checked baggage caused congestion in the Southwest lobby, however,
prompting the airline to ask passengers not to line up more than two hours
early. 

Michael J. Aguilar, federal director for the Transportation Security
Administration in San Diego, said having trained Guard troops at the gates
was helping "a great deal." 

Screeners on Thursday had minimal preparation for the new measures, imposed
mere hours after an announcement that a bomb plot involving international
flights from London had been foiled. 

Of the first three airports to receive Guard personnel, San Diego is the
only one without direct transatlantic flights. More than 300 troops in all
were deployed in the first wave; plans were in the works to dispatch troops
for assistance to at least two additional airports, Orange County and
Ontario, and the Guard is in discussions with San Jose airport officials. 

In a telephone news conference, California National Guard Maj. Gen. William
Wade said the state offered troops to Oakland International Airport but
officials there declined, saying they determined they could "handle all of
their security requirements within their means." 

It was being left to the airports to decide the best way to utilize the
Guard troops, Wade said. San Francisco was the only airport to ask that the
Guard personnel be armed.

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