Government meets deadline, takes over airport security duties

The government completed its security takeover at the nation's airports Tuesday, winning praise from travelers who said they felt more confident and were happy with the short lines at the X-ray machines.

"It looks like they're taking care of things," 78-year-old Henrietta Oetken said as she sat near a baggage-screening machine at the Las Vegas airport.

It was business as usual at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport where temporary federal screeners have been checking bags and passengers since Nov. 4.

Bruce Loy, manager of the Cape Girardeau airport, said all but one of the screeners are temporarily assigned here. But within the next 48 hours, two more permanent screeners are expected to be stationed here and by early December there should be a permanent staff of six screeners on duty, he said.

"They are part-time jobs," Loy said of the screeners. "They will probably be working only four hours a day," he said, explaining that only three commercial flights depart from the airport daily.

'Getting the same service'

Loy said the traveling public has seen little difference between the federal screeners and those that previously were employed by American Connection, the commuter airline that serves Cape Girardeau.

"You can tell they have different uniforms. Other than that, you are getting the same service," he said.

The Transportation Security Administration, created after the Sept. 11 attacks, met its deadline Tuesday to put more than 47,000 federal employees in place to handle security at 424 airports nationwide. They replace a private work force often criticized as inefficient, inattentive and poorly trained.

The federal screeners have been added over the past few months. Congress has also set a year-end deadline to screen all checked baggage for explosives, but many airports say they will have trouble installing the minivan-sized bomb-detection machines by that date.

Oetken was traveling home to Arizona with her daughter, Melody Bean, 38, a flight attendant who said she feels safer with federal screeners in place.

"I think it's a lot better now, although they have slip-ups now and then," said Bean, who lives in Evans, Colo.

Darlene Ruffin-Alexander of Atlanta also praised the federal screeners: "It seems that they are a little more efficient and certainly more customer-friendly. They are more attentive and not as playful as they have been in the past."

Ruffin-Alexander was headed to Boston from the Atlanta airport, the nation's busiest, where lines at security checkpoints were short.

Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, said much work remains to be done to improve security. While he praised the goal of reducing waits at checkpoints to 10 minutes or less, Mitchell said the system needs to focus less on people -- and things -- that are not a threat.

"We have to get away from this fixation on tweezers and tie bars," he said.

Mitchell also said his research shows business air travel declined 14 percent in 2001 compared with 2000 and will drop an additional 11 percent this year.

He said airlines will need to improve a number of things other than security to lure back business travelers.

At the Boston airport, Jeff Nutting of Dennisport, Mass., was headed to Thailand. He said he suspects there are still lapses in security. "If I were a terrorist, I think I could probably outsmart the system," he said.

Bob Balzco of northwestern Indiana, who was headed to Seattle from Chicago, said terrorists could still get through security posts.

"Look at El Al. A pen knife got on there. It's supposed to be the most secure airline," he said, referring to an incident on the Israeli airline over the weekend.

At the Philadelphia airport, Ellen Haag of Norfolk, Va., said she felt comfortable with the federal screeners. "There will be tighter guidelines and stronger systems to answer to," she said.

Many travelers praised the efficiency of the new screeners, citing shorter lines at checkpoints as a major plus.

"I'm waiting less now," said Mark Turner, who was flying from Newark, N.J., to Dallas.

Joe Aiello of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said he has noticed a difference at security checkpoints recently.

"They're more professional, courteous," he said in Philadelphia. "There are less bag checks -- they can read the equipment better."