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CNN Live Today
Americans Willing to Pay More for Aviation Security
Aired August 29, 2002 - 13:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Turning to security in the skies, airline passengers soon will no longer be asked those routine questions about whether they have kept an eye on their luggage. The questions are being phased out after being deemed ineffective. Transportation officials also are considering imposing flight restrictions timed for September 11.
CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us from Reagan National Airport with more on that -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, officials simply don't want to take any chances on this 9/11 anniversary, and so what they are considering doing is making the skies over Washington, D.C., New York, and then Shanksville, Pennsylvania off limits to international flights. This would be both cargo and passenger flights to smaller general aviation aircraft, private aircraft, and also charters.
Now, this would be primarily on the morning of 9/11, but the restrictions in the city of New York would carry on all the way through the 12th and 13th, and officials say no specific threats, they just want to be extremely cautious.
The only way that aviation -- domestic flights would be affected, commercial flights, would be that people would have to stay in their seats, just as they do here in Washington for 30 minutes before they land, and 30 minutes after they take off.
These new security measures come into effect as we are hearing from passengers increasingly that they are reassured by the measures that have already been put in place since 9/11. Passengers we talked to here at Reagan National Airport and also a number that were surveyed, some 1,022 by AAA recently told them that 75 percent were confident -- either extremely confident, very confident, or somewhat confident that flying now is safe. That versus just 33 percent a month after 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm somewhat confident. Sometimes I do -- like today, we had extreme level of security for our luggages, and I think that is pretty good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm pretty confident. We have flown quite a bit since 9/11, and it's -- we have been torn apart a couple times, and I'm all for it. I appreciate the fact they are taking more time going through the bags and what not. So I'm fairly confident, yes. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: The survey of 1,022 adults who had flown in recent months also asked them whether or not they would be willing to pay more for that additional security, above and beyond the $10 per ticket fee that is implemented right now to pay for security improvements, and a surprising 87 percent said yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANTILL WILLIAMS, AAA SPOKESMAN: No one wants to pay more for anything, but it does seem that if necessary, people are willing to pay more to make our airports safer, particularly for this...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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