Changes in airport security may take time in some places

BOSTON -- Bruce Fagaley grew uneasy as he waited outside Terminal B at Logan Airport to meet relatives. A car -- with no driver -- idled for at least 15 minutes near the terminal. Fagaley watched as two state troopers walked by the car, and said nothing.

The car eventually was driven away without incident.

Elsewhere around the airport, an on-duty security officer was seen perusing titles at a magazine stand and K-9 officers let people play with their dogs.

The heightened security has apparently not taken hold in some places.

"They're going to have to get tougher -- a lot tougher than this," Fagaley said.

Federal authorities shut down all U.S. air travel last week after terrorists hijacked four airliners, including two at Logan that were later used to bring down the World Trade Center.

The Federal Aviation Administration did not allow airports to reopen until they had met tightened security regulations. Many airports, including Logan, enacted safety measures beyond the new federal rules.

On Monday at Logan, officers in black SWAT uniforms -- some carrying machine guns -- patrolled the terminals with U.S. marshals and Border Patrol officers. State police with bomb-sniffing dogs roamed the airport.

No explanation for lapses

Officials at the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, had no explanation for the apparent initial security lapses, but said travelers have to work with the airport to make sure the new measures work.

"We have hundreds more law enforcement agents in the airport, airline employees have a heightened sense of awareness, there are more eyes and ears than ever before -- and that should be reassuring to the flying public," said Massport spokesman Jose Juves.

Still, aviation safety experts said it could take awhile for airports to fully enforce new security measures.

"It's just going to take time to get the people who are checkers to believe that this is for real, that this is not just a short-term knee-jerk reaction," said Michael Barr, director of the University of Southern California Aviation Safety Program.

"Can you watch very single thing going in the airport? Probably not, but you can see the major things."

Some airports continued to have security glitches Monday.