Thursday, June 24, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

AVIATION: Private screeners' return OK'd

Government to let airports opt out of using federal passenger and baggage checkers after Nov. 19

Transportation Security Administration screener Melissa Sigbe pulls people aside Wednesday at a metal detector at McCarran International Airport. The federal government on Wednesday said airports may opt out of using federal passenger and baggage screeners after Nov. 19 under a new screening partnership program. Photo by John Locher.

The federal government on Wednesday said it will again allow U.S. airports to use private screening companies to protect air travelers, reversing a strict hands-on approach Washington leaders adopted more than 2 1/2 years ago in the wake of September 2001's airline-based terror attacks.

Asa Hutchinson, U.S. Department of Homeland Security undersecretary for border and transportation security, told a Las Vegas audience of airport executives a new screening partnership program will give them more flexibility by allowing airports to opt out of using federal passenger and baggage screeners after Nov. 19.

The Transportation Security Administration has previously required all but a handful of U.S. airports to use federal employees in such roles.

"It is important to have a legitimate option for the airports," Hutchinson said at the American Association of Airport Executives trade show, which ends today at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "We're trying to be creative."

Clark County Aviation Director Randy Walker has had several public run-ins with TSA leaders since the agency was created in November 2001, including last month's spat over the number of additional screeners TSA sought to station at McCarran International Airport. Still, Walker said Wednesday it's too soon to determine whether private screeners might soon replace their federal counterparts in Southern Nevada.

Local aviation leaders have not yet had time to peruse a 22-page document TSA posted online Wednesday outlining its new policies, Walker said, though he and his staff will soon study the advantages and disadvantages of opting out.

Walker said two key issues will largely shape McCarran's direction, including whether Clark County, which operates the airport, would be held liable for mistakes caused by a private screening company it might employ to secure the airport and its users.

"The federal government is immune to liability," Walker said of potential legal actions brought on by a screening error that leads to a catastrophic event. "What would our immunity be or not be in terms of those kinds of lawsuits?"

Secondly, Walker said his department would need assurances that TSA's funding for private screening companies would be flexible enough to adapt to passenger-traffic changes at McCarran.

"How do you compete for those dollars as an opt out versus a federal program?" Walker asked. "We don't know the answer, but if you get into an opt out program and your budget is frozen forever into the future, obviously for a fast-growing airport like Las Vegas that may not be a good thing."

House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John Mica, R-Fla., has estimated nearly 25 percent of U.S. airports would opt out, Hutchinson said. That number indicates a 75 percent approval rating "any politician would appreciate," Hutchinson said.

TSA will develop a list of private security companies that meet federal standards and allow those companies to bid for contracts at interested airports. Airport operators could also form their own for-profit company to provide security, though Walker said such a step would be illegal in Nevada.

Once the private screeners are in place, TSA would both pay and oversee the companies' efforts to ensure federal standards are upheld.

"This does not diminish in any way the confidence and pride in what the federal screening workforce has done," said Hutchinson, who said those workers have "performed admirably."

Walker said his issues with TSA have been with its leaders in Washington, adding he enjoys a good working relationship with the agency's local employees and Jim Blair, McCarran's federal security director. He said opting out would not free McCarran from dealing with TSA leaders in Washington, which could work against an opt-out move in Las Vegas.

"If (TSA) will have local on-site management, will dictate the salary levels and dictate the number of people that the private company can hire, what's the point?" Walker said. "Right now we don't know what the benefit would be. There could be a benefit, but we won't know that until we see the ultimate structure of the program."

Blair also said it's premature to speculate about the future of federal screeners at McCarran, though he was much more decisive in describing the performance of his nearly 800 local workers.

"The passengers evaluate their performance for us, and the feedback that we're getting on what McCarran has done is phenomenal," Blair said. "We've got a great screening work force" here already.

Hutchinson said TSA will likely allow airports to opt out during a brief window period sometime around Nov. 19. Those failing to opt out then would likely have to wait another year to request the use of private screeners.

Airports that do opt out but later reconsider their decision would be allowed to return to federal workers, he added.