In appearances before Congress, Transportation
Security Administration chief John Pistole has strongly defended the
airport screening process that treats everyone the same, including
infants and the elderly.
But in his latest
testimony before a congressional panel, Pistole changed his tune and
began talking about overhauling the system to focus on intelligence
gathering and targeting those travelers the TSA knows the least about.
“Since
I became TSA administrator, I have listened to ideas from people all
over this country,” he told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs. As a result, he said, the agency is moving in
the new direction by expanding several pilot security programs and
changing the way children are searched at airport security checkpoints.
But
don’t expect the changes to cut down on the long lines at checkpoints
during this holiday travel season. TSA’s revised security procedures
probably won’t be expanded nationwide for several months, an agency
spokesman said.
A test program that began last
month at four airports — Miami, Dallas, Detroit and Atlanta — lets
passengers who volunteer personal information zip through a special
screening lane without having to remove shoes or jackets. Pistole told
lawmakers that it has worked so well that he wants to expand it to more
airports. There is no word yet on when the program might be tested at a
Southern California airport.
“We are working closely with other airlines and airports to determine when they may be operationally ready to join,” he said.
In
another program that was tested at Boston’s Logan International
Airport, special behavior detection officers chat with passengers in the
terminal to detect suspicious behavior. Pistole said the program was
recently expanded to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to
collect more data on its effectiveness.
Pistole
said the agency also has changed its policy for searching children under
age 12. TSA agents now have the discretion to pat down youngsters or
require them to remove their shoes.
“By
streamlining procedures for these lower-risk passengers through programs
like these, TSA is better able to focus its finite resources on those
who pose higher risks to transportation,” he said.
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2 AIRLINES MAY FACE STIFF FINES
JetBlue
Airways Corp. and American Airlines’ parent, AMR Corp., could face
stiff fines for stranding hundreds of passengers in planes on an airport
tarmac for seven hours during a snowstorm last month, but a lawyer who
specializes in business litigation says passengers probably can’t sue
over the ordeal.
JetBlue has apologized and
offered to refund the airfares and pay for round-trip tickets for future
travel for passengers on six JetBlue flights that were stranded on the
tarmac at Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn., during a
heavy storm that disrupted thousands of flights.
Under
U.S. Transportation Department rules, airlines that keep passengers in a
grounded plane for three hours or more for U.S. flights or four hours
or more for international flights can be fined $27,000 per passenger.
The
agency is investigating both airlines, but a spokesman said the rules
exempt airlines that keep passengers on the tarmac because trying to
return them to the terminal disrupts airport operations or creates a
safety or security problem.
Since the rule that took effect in April 2010, the agency has yet to fine any airline.
It’s
possible that the once-stranded passengers will get nothing more from
the airline than the apology, the refunds and the extra airline tickets,
said Hugh Totten, a Chicago attorney who has represented airlines in
business litigation.
“While the new federal
regulation limits tarmac delays to three hours, there are several
exceptions to the rule,” he said. “Exceptions such as ‘disruption to
airport operations’ or ‘passenger safety’ have been put in place,
leaving passengers with no leverage for filing suit.”
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%uFFFD2011 the Los Angeles Times
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