Editorial: Don’t cut McCarran screeners

Monday, May 5, 2003 | 8:51 a.m.

The Transportation Security Administration is cutting 3,000 airport security screening jobs by the end of September. The announcement last week comes just one month after the federal agency said it would eliminate 3,000 other screening positions. The TSA said the reductions, which amount to roughly 11 percent of the agency's 55,600 screeners, were in response to a budget-cutting mandate by Congress.

The number of screeners at McCarran International Airport scheduled to be reduced is 149, dropping from 983 to 834. McCarran would be hurt significantly because 92 percent of its 36 million annual passengers must go through security checkpoints that require screening. McCarran is second in the nation, behind only Los Angeles International Airport, in the number of passengers originating or finishing a trip, a situation that necessitates screening. It's also dismaying, as McCarran officials point out, that an airport at another comparable tourist-based destination, Orlando, is gaining screeners even though Las Vegas' airport has more passengers that require screening.

If some airports have too many screeners, then there should be reductions. But it's difficult to believe that's the case in Las Vegas. As it stands now, passengers can wait up to an hour at peak times to get through screening at McCarran. If the cuts aren't reversed, passengers will grow even more frustrated. More importantly, we worry just how the cuts might affect security. Nevada's congressional delegation denounced the cuts at the Las Vegas airport and has appropriately demanded that the TSA explain its decision regarding McCarran. In response, late last week TSA officials said they would reconsider the reductions in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Congress should rethink its cost-cutting moves at the TSA. After 9-11, there is no excuse for shortchanging homeland security, especially when Congress is looking to make room for big tax cuts.