McCarran official lands federal post

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004 | 3:13 a.m.

The next time McCarran International Airport officials request additional screeners from the Transportation Security Administration they will make the request to a familiar face.

McCarran Transportation Security Director Jim Blair this morning is expected to be named director of aviation for the TSA, overseeing security at all of the nation's 429 major airports.

"It's going to be a lot of work, but it's going to be a good opportunity too," said Blair, who will officially take over in Washington on Dec. 1.

When asked if he thought his presence in Washington would help government officials understand the needs at McCarran, Blair smiled and said, "Let's hope so."

Currently McCarran has about 1,000 screeners and should have more than 1,050 by early next year. Airport officials, Blair and Nevada's congressional delegation have had to go to the TSA several times in the past to request more screeners to handle the passengers at McCarran.

From January through September of this year more than 31 million passengers traveled through McCarran, according to airport officials.

Clark County Deputy Director of Aviation Rosemary Vassiliadis said that Blair would be missed at the airport.

"His being a local and understanding our economy and the tourism industry was a great help," Vassiliadis said. "It will be good to have someone higher up in the administration that understands McCarran."

Blair said that his focus in Washington will be to assist travelers to pass through security quickly and safely.

"The biggest thing is continuity," Blair said. "We want people to be able to go into airports and see the same security procedures, even if the layouts of the airports are different."

Blair will be replaced at McCarran by Dennis Clark, who is currently serving as TSA deputy director of Operations in Washington and was previously head of security at El Paso International Airport.

Clark was appointed as security director at the El Paso International Airport in August 2002. Prior to his work with the TSA he spent 21 years as a supervisory special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and served with U.S. Army intelligence.

Blair moved to Las Vegas in 1989 as an Air Force colonel and took over as installation commander at Nellis Air Force Base. After retiring from the Air Force, Blair became Las Vegas' deputy director of planning for the City of Las Vegas under Mayor Jan Jones, and was later head of security at the Mirage.

Blair had served as TSA security director at McCarran since May 2002. During his tenure the airport hired a federal screener workforce, expanded the numbers of security lanes for the C and D Gates and started work on an in-line baggage screening system.

"It's been a lot of work,and I think as time as passed we've been able to inject some effectiveness into the procedures," Vassiliadis said. "We're still striving to be a seamless operation.

"We're really just a facility and we want people to remember the show they saw or the wonderful buffet they went to, not waiting two hours at the airport."