"Logan Tests Screening Workers"

Friday, June 29, 2007

Logan Tests Screening Workers
CBS News


Some employees at Boston Logan International Airport are undergoing physical
screening for the first time thanks to a unique new pilot program. 

In January, CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent Armen Keteyian
exposed how airport workers including baggage handlers, mechanics and
cleaners across the country enter restricted areas of airports through side
and back doors without being physically checked like passengers. 

In an effort to better control employee access, the Massachusetts Port
Authority (Massport) announced this week that they are testing special
checkpoints at different employee entrances around Logan. The program will
run through mid-July. 

With the assistance of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents,
each employee who goes through a special checkpoint is searched for
explosives and other dangerous or prohibited weapons. 

Logan spokesperson Richard Walsh would not disclosed details of how the
screening is being executed for security reasons but he did say it is only
in the pilot stages and not fully implemented. "We are looking to see what
we would really need to have a program like this," said Walsh. Wait time,
operational impact and costs are all factors. 

TSA spokesperson Ann Davis told CBS News, "whether it will continue remains
to be seen." Logan airport officials would like to be able to screen all
14,000 of their workers 100 percent of the time and this program is a way to
see if that is even possible. 

Four aviation security experts CBS News spoke with today say they are
pleased the program is being attempted at a major airport and they have
their fingers crossed. 

The TSA, which mandates airports, does not require employees to be
physically screened but an airport could decide to do it on its own.(Note:
the TSA recently announced it now randomly screens airport workers.) So far
out of the 425 commercial airports where the TSA operates passenger
checkpoints only 2 physically check workers on a daily basis: Miami
International and Orlando International airports. If all goes well, Logan
could possibly be the third.

On the web:

Airport Security & the DC Shuffle
http://www.californiaaviation.org/weblog/2007/04/airport-security-dc-shuffle

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