Airport eases up on some security

David Kihara

Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005 | 7:32 a.m.

Since the 9/11 attacks, air travelers have grown accustomed to surrendering scissors, screwdrivers and other small tools at airport security checkpoints. But starting today, passengers will be spared some of the annoyance -- at least for the moment.

Transportation Security Administration screeners at McCarran International Airport and across the country are relaxing their restrictions. Among the items now allowed aboard commercial airliners are scissors with blades shorter than four inches and wrenches and screwdrivers under seven inches long.

"The TSA believes that these small items don't pose a threat to aviation security," said Nico Melendez, spokesman for the TSA in Los Angeles. The change will allow security workers to look for more serious threats, especially explosives, he said.

The issue, however, is far from settled. Flight attendants, members of Congress and others ferociously oppose the change. In the wrong hands, even small cuticle scissors and pliers can pose serious threats to passengers and attendants, they say.

"These items are not typically what you think of as weapons, but neither were box cutters," said Corey Caldwell, spokeswoman for the 46,000-member Association of Flight Attendants in Washington. Box cutters, which remain banned on commercial aircraft, were used by the hijackers to seize the jetliners on Sept. 11, 2001.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff saying the change "will only confuse the public, and potentially compromise security." Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, co-sponsored legislation to restore the ban on small scissors and tools.

Nevada's three House members also side with the flight attendants. Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley said, "a screwdriver can be quite a bit of a hazard on planes."

The state's two senators, however, have not spoken out against the change. Minority Leader Harry Reid said the TSA should set the rules, a spokeswoman said. Republican Sen. John Ensign declined comment.

The TSA says the new procedure will free up screeners to conduct random checks of more passengers through the use of hand wands, inspections of shoes and carry-on bags, and other means. In other words, passengers can keep their scissors and screwdrivers, but they are more likely to face delays at security checkpoints.

The Airline Pilots Association, which represents many of the nation's commercial pilots, supports change in security procedures.

At McCarran, which serves 115,000 passengers a day, security personnel have collected more than 600,000 banned items this year, including 12-ounce bottles of fuel system cleaning liquid, pepper spray, folding hunting knives and even electric skill saws and other power tools.

Those items, along with knives of any size, lighters, firearms and many other things will remain banned.

As for smaller items, Lindo Lapitan, a tourist from New York, had an opinion as he rushed to catch a plane home from McCarran on Wednesday. He stopped at a mailing kiosk to send home a pair of scissors that for the moment, remained verboten.

"It sucks," Lapitan said. "You can't hurt anyone with a pair of scissors."

David Kihara can be reached at 259-2330 or at davidk@lasvegassun.com