New bag screening begins: No unusual delays at McCarran

Kim Smith and Emily Richmond

Friday, Jan. 18, 2002 | 10:52 a.m.

People flying out of the nation's airports, which are implementing new baggage screening techniques today, came prepared to wait.

But the new procedures didn't seem to cause unusual delays. Long lines and extended waits failed to materialize at McCarran International Airport.

Still, travelers should be prepared to be patient.

The new security measures, in which each piece of luggage is inspected and matched to passengers boarding planes, have the potential to extend wait times as much as three hours, spokeswoman Hilarie Grey said.

Lester and Karen Herness of Minnesota arrived this morning at 7 a.m. for a 10 a.m. flight home.

"The lines were not bad at all," Karen said. "I was expecting worse because of what the news was reporting."

Haik Housyan, a Los Angeles resident who works as a shuttle driver at LAX, was dropping off his friend Tatyana Chichekova, a Cleveland resident who he had met here for a three-day vacation. He drove here to meet her, and she is flying back today.

They arrived two hours early, and Housyan said that the lines moved quickly compared to those in Los Angeles, he said, holding his hands apart to demonstrate. "They have nice service here," he said.

"So far, things have been moving smoothly," Grey said.

Passengers can help speed the ticketing process by being ready to open locked suitcases, Grey said. Information on flight delays can be found online at www.mccarran.com. Checking online may be quicker than calling the airline's toll-free number, she said.

"This is a holiday weekend and we're expecting a healthy crowd," Grey said. "Just how the new security requirements will affect traffic flow remains to be seen, but thus far everything looks good."

Terri Vanderseen, a Wisconsin resident who took advantage of cheap airfare for a 1 1/2 day vacation, arrived two hours early for her flight to Las Vegas.

"I thought the security would be different, but it was normal. At least everything was the same since it has been since Sept. 11," she said.

The airlines will be responsible for security until Feb. 17, when the federal government takes over. Under a congressional mandate, all baggage will have to be screened with explosives-detection machines by the end of the year.

The Bush administration, acknowledging that the transition to beefed-up security could be difficult, asked passengers to be patient.

"I'm not sure that anyone really has a crystal ball that can determine how long those delays will be, but I think today passengers are willing to accept a modicum of inconvenience given the safety and security of the air travel," Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said on CBS' "The Early Show."

"And I think in today's world, patience is a new form of patriotism," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.