Wednesday, October 24, 2001
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Wednesday, October 24, 2001 |
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Collins concerned about airport security U.S. Rep. Mac Collins telephoned Deputy Secretary of Transportation Michael Jackson last week to suggest steps to increase airport security without federalizing security staff. In the conversation Collins made several suggestions on how to use existing airline personnel to raise security standards by retraining and reassigning them to man x-ray stations and metal detectors. Collins conveyed his own observation that backups of passengers and bottleneck delays are often being caused by many security checkpoints at the nation's airports being closed. Collins said there is a lack of security procedures at jetways. "I recently boarded a flight and presented my boarding pass to the gate attendant. I asked her if she was sure the name on the boarding pass was me, and she replied, 'It's supposed to be. You went through security, didn't you?'" Collins also conveyed an overheard conversation between two passengers and a flight attendant. "The one passenger said, in a concerned tone of voice, 'They didn't check my bag; did they check yours?' and it was obvious that she lacked confidence in the security procedures," Collins said. In response to Collins' concerns, Jackson sent a note to Collins' office stating that measures to verify passenger identification at jetways are already in place on all flights originating from and terminating at Reagan National Airport and are imminent for all domestic flights. Jackson also mentioned that security personnel are conducting random magnetic wand checks at the boarding gates. "We don't need to reinvent the wheel here," said Collins. "We have airline staff facing layoffs, which would be devastating to our national economy, when the airlines could take the $4.5 billion cash infusion given to them by Congress and the American taxpayers and use that to retrain those workers to provide added security. The airlines have the opportunity to turn choke points into checkpoints and they are missing it," he said. Collins also said consumer confidence in flying is directly linked to confidence in airport security precautions. In addition, one reason consumers have given for curtailing flying is excessive delays at airports caused by increased security, not a fear of further terrorist attacks, Collins maintained. "We are pleased to see the responsiveness of the Department of Transportation to this serious concern and are encouraged that they have implemented common sense solutions to this challenge," said Collins.
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