Airports May Switch Screeners

Nov 1, 2004 12:00 PM

With a deadline looming, the government has yet to come up with guidelines for commercial airports that want to replace federal baggage and passenger screeners with privately employed workers.

Officials at some of the nation's 445 airports say they are frustrated with the 2-year-old government work force. They say federal rules do not allow the flexibility to reassign workers to handle surges in air travel, which sometimes results in long waits for passengers at security checkpoints.

The Transportation Security Administration has not announced qualified private security companies, nor has it established criteria for airports to participate in the program, which began in November.

TSA spokesperson Amy von Walter said the agency has set up an e-mail address so airports can submit specific questions. Until then, she said, “We don't have a specific date on final guidance at this time as we continue to work on a few issues — including liability.”

There are about 47,000 government workers at 440 airports checking passengers and bags for bombs and weapons. But the law that turned screening over to the TSA also allowed airports to go back to private screeners — under TSA supervision — on Nov. 19.

Steve van Beek, executive vice president of the Airports Council International, estimates 20 to 30 airports — including some of the nation's largest — will opt out of the current system.

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