Airport construction aims to please feds

The federal Transportation Security Administration determined that an extra interior glass wall will make air travel safer at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

What the wall will do, officials say, is separate those who have been screened from those who have not, making the final waiting area a "sterile" zone.

When the work is finished sometime next week, Cape Girardeau will be one of the first airports in the nation to have the necessary changes in place and be ready for TSA security agents and luggage inspectors, said Bruce Loy, airport manager.

A new wall will be raised to the right of the existing, glass-walled screening and holding room.

The construction is at a standstill because the sprinkler system in the ceiling must be moved before the wall can be installed, Loy said.

Passengers and baggage will be screened in the new area and then proceed to the current holding room. Passengers will wait there until their flight departs. If they leave that area, they will have to be screened again.

Another change passengers will see is more screening with hand wands. In the past, passengers could empty their pockets if they set off the metal detector and keep trying until they passed. After the change, they will immediately be tested with the hand wand if the magnetometer alarm sounds the first time.

Still, Loy said, no passenger should have to wait more than 10 minutes in line.

"They're setting it up to expedite the process," Loy said.

By November

The changes are part of TSA's mandate to have federal security agents installed at every airport by Nov. 19. The TSA also has until Dec. 31 to create a national system where every bag is screened.

Loy said the TSA agents could be in place before Nov. 19, but no projections have been made as to when they might be ready.

"The plan is to get them here as soon as possible," Loy said.

As it stands, carry-on luggage is examined piece by piece, but checked bags are searched randomly. Employees of American Connection, which serves the area with commuter flights to St. Louis, do the work.

Angie Mayberry, manager for American Connection, said she is looking forward to the day when the TSA takes over security.

"It'll be nice to be able to just concentrate on the airlines," she said.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department also provides security at the airport. The city receives a $202-a-day reimbursement from the TSA for two officers on permanent airport duty.

The TSA was created in November when President Bush signed legislation aimed at making air travel safer.

bmiller@semissourian.com

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