Las Vegas company gaining security expertise

Monday, April 30, 2001 | 10:48 a.m.

A retired Navy admiral who led SEAL detachments in Vietnam, commanded the Pacific Fleet's special warfare forces and is an airport security expert will bring his expertise to a Las Vegas company pioneering remote airline check-in and luggage-transportation services.

Former Federal Aviation Administration official Rear Adm. Cathal "Irish" Flynn was named to the board of directors of CAPS -- Certified Airline Passenger Services -- a company that checks in passengers and their bags at counters in local hotels and is working to expand to include operations in other cities and airports.

Jerome Snyder, chairman of the board for privately held CAPS, said Flynn's credentials are well known throughout the aviation industry, so when he heard of his retirement from the FAA, he knew how valuable he could be to his company's board.

"We had always heard of and knew of his reputation through civil aviation," Snyder said. "I said, 'I wonder if he'd be interested in our company,' and when we spoke to him, it was immediately obvious that he was as interested in our program as we were in him."

Snyder said he met Flynn through a mutual friend.

"He is a retired SEAL and a friend of mine, Scott Lyon, also is a retired SEAL," Snyder said. "He shared with me that he was acquainted with Rear Adm. Flynn and I guess those folks are a very close alumni, there are not very many retired SEALs out there. Low and behold, he agreed to work with our board."

Snyder said Flynn would be an asset to CAPS because "he knows everybody in the airline industry."

Flynn knows that his knowledge of counterterrorism tactics will be tapped in his new role as a board member for CAPS.

"My job will be to help CAPS prosper more than it is now and to help it to expand its services," Flynn said in a telephone interview from his Coronado, Calif., home. "Because of my expertise in aviation security, I can advise officers of the company on matters of airline security and assure them that CAPS service augments security rather than becomes a new issue."

Security is key to the success of CAPS, since it is an added link in the process of putting bags aboard commercial airliners. The company was the first off-airport passenger and baggage check-in service used by multiple airlines.

The company will add its 10th airline next month and has counters at 12 Las Vegas resorts and at the city's main Alamo Rent A Car office.

Flynn, who took the nickname "Irish" when he joined the Navy after receiving a civil engineering degree from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, parlayed his knowledge of counterterrorism measures into a career in aviation security after he retired from the military in 1990.

After leaving the Navy, he became an analyst with Science Applications International Corp., a Fortune 500 company based in San Diego, identifying technology that could be used in civil aviation security. Then, in 1993, he became an associate administrator for civil aviation security with the Federal Aviation Administration.

In that capacity, he directed the nationwide deployment of explosives detection systems, state-of-the-art X-ray equipment, explosive trace detectors and computer-based security training systems.

Flynn said as airports become more crowded, remote check-in will become more critical for all passengers.

"The growth in (the number of) passengers tends to go just as fast as terminals can be improved," Flynn said. "When the new terminals are built, everything looks great for a couple of years. Then, there are more passengers, more flights, more air carriers and then you're back to where you were."

But CAPS, which debuted in 1999, enables departing passengers to check their bags and get their seat assignments at the hotel, eliminating time in line at the airport.

The FAA certified CAPS to operate as a remote check-in business. Flynn is convinced that the company's emphasis on security will be duplicated as the remote check-in industry grows as he expects. And, while he said he couldn't talk about specifics of CAPS' security operation, he is convinced it will keep passengers safe.

"CAPS has excellent procedures in place for ensuring the tracking of bags," Flynn said. "There is no opportunity for anyone with any illegal intent getting at the bags before they go to the planes."

The government is encouraging the system to be duplicated in other cities and airports.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., helped engineer a controversial $2 million transportation grant to finance a study of how remote check-in facilities can reduce congestion at the nation's airports. The grant is going to a consortium comprised of representatives of CAPS, Unisys Corp., UNLV, UCLA and Los Angeles International Airport.

The grant, funded as an FAA security appropriation, was criticized by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and the Washington-based Citizens Against Government Waste, who called the grant a government-funded scheme to encourage Las Vegas tourists to spend more time in casinos.

Although many CAPS customers spend more of their free time gambling when they check in away from the airport, Snyder said that wasn't the purpose of the grant.

Flynn said the key is in the security.

"The foremost objective of aviation security programs is to prevent hijackings and acts of terrorism," Flynn said. "That's what they'll hear from me at the company's quarterly meetings and whenever CAPS feels my input is required."

Snyder said Flynn would be consulted on all issues regarding security, but he can't intercede on the company's behalf before the FAA until October, one year after Flynn's retirement from the agency.