"Security delays not fazing travelers"

Monday, July 2, 2007

Security delays not fazing travelers
By Magdalene Perez
Newsday (NY)


Travelers gearing up for the Fourth of July said they were bracing for
longer waits and heightened security in the face of a foiled plot to set off
car bombs in London and a related attack in Scotland.

Already a terminal at Kennedy Airport was evacuated Sunday when a suspicious
package was found on the curb in front of the American Airlines terminal. A
bomb squad determined the package contained nothing more than cologne, and
passengers were back in the terminal within an hour, according to police.

"Normally we're at the airport two hours early, but we're thinking about
spending the night," said Juan Vazquez, 35, who plans on flying with his
wife and young son out of Kennedy this week. "There's going to be a lot of
commotion."

Police in Britain were looking for a connection between an S.U.V. that
slammed into Glasgow Airport Saturday and a plot to blow up two cars found
rigged with gasoline in London less than two days earlier.

Travelers milling about tourist spots in Manhattan were largely unfazed by
the news, but said they were reassured that airport officials were clamping
down on security.

"I'm a patient person, so I don't mind waiting as long as I'm safe," said
Leslie DeFelice, a student scheduled to fly back to California today. "I
feel like always after a scare security tightens up a bit."

A spokesman for the Port Authority said police were sent in to investigate
the package at JFK because the item was left unattended. He denied the
London plot had any connection with the way airport officials handled the
situation.

Suspicious packages are checked "with the same due diligence regardless of
what's going on around the world," the spokesman said.

Tourists and other travelers, meanwhile, said they have come to expect the
longer waits that accompany heightened security.

"It's a sign of the times," said Rex Ritchie, a tourist who bused into New
York from Indiana.

"You just have to know that it's going to take longer to get somewhere."

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