Access Control
& Security Systems

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has promised Congress it will screen all checked baggage for explosives by the beginning of 2003. With the new year on the horizon, many airports have successfully transitioned screening services to the new technology TSA stipulates to accomplish the task. A few airports, however, are running into problems.

The director of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport said Monday that the deadline will not be met.The delays are being caused in part by the size of the job. "Well, there's still a great deal of work to be done - several months of work to get to completion of our interim system," Charlotte-Douglas Airport Director Jerry Orr told a local news station. "Obviously, that won't be done by the 31st."

At Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, eight explosives detection machines have been installed in the lobby. The machines are so large the TSA had to remove three floor-to-ceiling windowpanes to bring them inside.

But whether the machines are in place or not, airport officials are convinced there will be a significant wait for the first passengers of 2003. "We're asking passengers to arrive at least two hours before their scheduled flight during the New Year's weekend," Aloha Airlines spokesman Stu Glauberman told the Honolulu Advertiser. Previously, the airline had suggested passengers arrive 60 to 90 minutes before departure.

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