McCarran likely won’t meet screening deadline

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2002 | 11:20 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Thirty to 35 of the nation's 429 commercial airports, including McCarran International, likely will not meet a federal deadline of Dec. 31 for installing new minivan-sized baggage screening machines, the nation's transportation security chief told Congress today.

Transportation Security Administration Director James Loy said he would like to work out a new deadline for each airport.

McCarran officials have said they would need a few months beyond year's end to renovate the airport to make room for the new "explosive detection system" machines. The airport has six machines, but those screen less than 10 percent of passenger luggage.

Loy told the Senate Commerce Committee that airports could use dogs and more baggage screeners conducting hand searches, among other security measures, until the machines are in place. Passengers should not have to endure significantly longer waits during the interim months, Loy said.

If some of the nation's largest airports were expected to funnel all luggage through just a few machines, passengers could face unprecedented delays, Loy said.

Congress would have to approve any missed deadlines, and Commerce panel member Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said he was optimistic lawmakers would pass such legislation soon.

Since Congress implemented the Dec. 31 deadline, many lawmakers have been reluctant to let it slip. But some seem more willing to grant deadline waivers, Ensign said.

"Today they understand that physically the airports just can't meet the deadline," Ensign said.

He said he and Commerce panel's chairman, Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., were working to craft legislation that gives the administration authority to work out new deadlines for certain airports.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., noted that his luggage had been checked four times in one airport recently.

"I do hope we're looking at adding security and not just adding to people's hassle factor," Brownback said.

Not all lawmakers are convinced, however, that airports should be allowed to miss the deadline. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said that if the United States could drop smart bombs in caves, "then we can check a bag at our feet."

Loy noted that 30 to 35 airports represent less than 10 percent of the nation's airports. But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the airports were the nation's largest and handle more than 10 percent of passengers every day.

McCain and several other lawmakers goaded Loy to pursue cutting-edge technology that could cut down on airport screeners and do a better job of tracking and screening passengers.

Loy has asked Congress for $5.3 billion in the next fiscal year.

Between February and July, 667 passengers were arrested, 527 firearms and 614,212 knives were intercepted and 23,974 box cutters were intercepted, Loy said.

Those numbers indicate that his agency needs to do a better job of educating the public that weapons of any kind are not allowed on planes, he said.

Loy said recent media stories about news agencies taking weapons through security "make my stomach churn and keep me up at night." He said a primary goal of his agency was to turn passenger fear into confidence.