USA (2 Jan 2003) -- Travelers heading home after the holidays will find it's a whole new system at the nation's airports, as well as a whole new year. Starting today, all checked baggage must be examined for explosives — part of the government's plan to enhance airport security following the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "All bags will be screened at all airports before they go on an airplane," James Loy, the administration's transportation security chief, told a Washington news conference earlier this week. It will be a monumental task. An estimated 1.5 billion bags are checked at 429 commercial U.S. airports every year. Scrambling to Meet the Deadline As 2002 drew to a close, workers with the federal Transportation Safety Administration were scrambling to meet the midnight deadline. At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, some bomb-detection machines were sitting in crates. Airport officials said they had nowhere to put them. At Denver International Airport, dozens of handheld devices that detect traces of explosives were delivered Monday, but most won't be in use until next week. And at Boston's Logan International Airport, officials were still testing some of their bomb-detection machines late Tuesday. Still, officials insisted the airport would be ready. By today, "100 percent of the bags will be screened. And they will be done very safely, very securely but also very conveniently for the traveling public," said Craig Coy, CEO of the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Logan. Different Methods Passengers will find different bag checks at every airport. | | In Norfolk, Va., workers were swabbing checked luggage — as many as 10,000 bags a day — to look for traces of explosive residue. "This is a very intrusive type of process. What we try to do from the customer service angle is talk people through the process to exactly why we're doing what we're doing," said Donald Bartnik, federal security director at Norfolk International Airport. Most airports will be relying on a variety of methods. Most bags will be checked by machine, but some will be screened by bomb-sniffing dogs and others will be searched by hand. To facilitate the screening process and reduce passenger delays, travelers have been advised not to lock their luggage. Personal items should be packed in clear plastic bags to minimize the likelihood that security personnel will handle them. In a small number of cases, some bags will simply be matched to a passenger list on the plane. Some critics argue that's a big hole in the system. "The fact is that there will be some bags at some point in time that will not be checked for explosives," said Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant. |
