Bag-check decree to produce more delays

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

Travelers flying out of McCarran International Airport could face waits of up to three hours starting Friday as airlines put in new security measures to meet an anti-terrorism mandate, officials said.

Required by federal law to have a system in place by Friday to check every bag for explosives, airlines are expected to use a bag-matching plan, Clark County Aviation Director Randy Walker said.

McCarran officials have been asking fliers to arrive at the airport about 90 minutes before their flight to allow for security checks, but the new screening could easily double that wait, especially on Fridays and Sundays.

"There is going to be a learning curve with any method, and that will result in delays," Walker said. "It's going to take time."

The Aviation and Transportation Security Act requires that all baggage be checked by explosive-detection machines by Dec. 31, but there aren't enough of the machines currently in use to make that a viable option today, Walker said.

In the interim, airlines without the machines must use either bomb-sniffing dogs, hand searches or the bag-matching system used in Europe.

"The machines aren't there, and a hand search of every bag isn't practical," Walker said. "It's my understanding that the airlines will mostly go to a positive bag match system."

McCarran has two of the minivan-sized detection machines, one used by American Airlines and the other used at the international terminal. The Federal Aviation Administration provides the $1 million machines to the airlines free of charge.

"Our planners estimate that the airport would need about 60 of the machines to check every piece of baggage and keep our waits about where they are now," airport spokeswoman Hilarie Grey said.

Representatives for Southwest Airlines, McCarran's largest carrier, America West and National airlines said they do not expect any delays because of the screening, but, citing security concerns, would not disclose how bags would be checked.

"We don't anticipate any major disruptions, and in many ways the process should be seamless and transparent to the public," American West spokeswoman Patty Nowack said.

Although delays can be expected they may not be permanent, said Lisa Foster, AAA of Nevada spokeswoman.

"What we've seen is that when there is a significant change in regulations there are more severe delays and waits, but after the initial introduction period it gets better," Foster said.

To try to work out any bugs before traffic picks up at McCarran on Friday, National Airlines is scheduled to start screening today, said Dik Shimizu, a spokesman for the airline.

"We actually tried some positive bag matching on about 100 flights before Sept. 11th happened," Shimizu said. "We didn't experience any problems with it, but we could have just caught a real good week."

Bag matching requires that a passenger's luggage does not get loaded onto a plane unless the passenger is also aboard. If the luggage is stowed, but the passenger is for some reason not on the plane, the airline will take the bag off causing a delay.

The system was first used after the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland, in which terrorists passed a luggage bomb through security without getting on the plane.

"The problem is that if you have to have a bag taken off a plane it causes a ripple effect that slows down planes at other airports," Walker said. "If the assumption is that someone would try to get a bomb on the plane without putting themselves in danger, then it works. It doesn't stop the assumption that someone will blow themselves up along with the plane."

The airlines' screening processes will be augmented at McCarran as early as May with the addition of three new security employees that will handle bomb-sniffing dogs. The $200,000 a year program was approved by Clark County commissioners Tuesday.