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CNN Live At Daybreak
New Airport, Airline Regulations Go Into Effect Today
Aired January 18, 2002 - 06:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: OK, now let's get to the latest security measures and in keeping the United States safe. New baggage screening rules take effect this morning and that could affect you if you plan to catch a flight today.
Our own Sean Callebs is at the busiest airport in the nation, Hartsfield International -- right here in Atlanta. Is it busy yet Sean?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's getting busy, not too much outside where you can check bags at the car, but inside, I think word has gotten out to passengers who are starting to see lines getting a little bit long for this time in the morning.
Now, prepare for -- hope for the best and prepare for the worst. That is about the best advice that airlines can give passengers today. We have all grown used to longer lines since September, but now, as you mentioned, the stricter new guidelines go into effect. Airlines are telling us to expect lines to get a little bit longer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (voice-over): Along with garment bags and carry-ons, airlines are warning passengers to bring a lot of patience to the nation's airports. Strict new guidelines are in effect, meaning all checked bags will be screened by either high-tech explosive detection equipment, bomb sniffing dogs, or by hand. The result will likely be longer lines to ticket and board aircraft.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we thought we saw long lines when they were just inspecting carry-on luggage, when we start inspecting 1.3 billion bags that were checked last year, the lines are going to be probably enormous.
CALLEBS: Until recently, airlines only checked between seven and 10 percent of luggage. The change is a result of the tragedy on September 11th.
Some congressional leaders believe the federal mandate may ask airlines to do too much too soon.
SEN. MAX CLELAND (D), GEORGIA: My confidence is and my reassurance is the American people, that by the end of this year we're going to have the finest, most secure aviation security operation in the world.
CALLEBS: Air travelers are beginning to return to the skies. Air traffic dropped by more than 34 percent right after the September attacks. Now the number of passengers on airlines is down 14 percent from a year ago. Airlines are hoping this latest change won't cause a huge inconvenience for flyers.
CATHERINE STEMPEL, DELTA AIRLINES SPOKESWOMAN: It should be business as normal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: Business as usual. Air carriers believe that what we're going through today is just a transitional period. They say as new expensive equipment and more people to screen bags come on line, the waiting time will decrease and peace of mind get a little bit better.
Live in Atlanta, I'm Sean Callebs. Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: So Sean, how it's exactly going to work? You know, you go up to the counter, you check your bags, will they check them right in front of you, or will they check them later behind the scenes?
CALLEBS: They're going to be doing most of it behind the scenes. It's going to be happening three ways. Some in cases will use the multimillion-dollar machines to actually check, x-ray the bags.
Some people will be going through bags by hands. In many other cases, bomb-sniffing dogs will check each and every bag. And no bag will be put on an aircraft unless it can be certainly designated to that carrier.
COSTELLO: So they'll just throw your bag out of there. You might not get it if they find something suspicious inside.
CALLEBS: Exactly.
COSTELLO: Oh, interesting. Thank you Sean.
In addition to the new baggage screening laws, federal authorities are taking other steps to ensure safety in the skies. Today the FAA is releasing new guidelines on how airlines should better train flight crews. It's the last offense against a hijacker.
CNN's Kathleen Koch has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Richard Reid case is what flight attendants had feared since September 11th -- another passenger trying to bring down another plane. That's before they got special training on what to do. Now four months later, the Federal Aviation Administration will give airlines new training guidelines that eliminate the former passive approach. JANE GARVEY, FAA ADMINISTRATION: The approach has been cooperate with the hijackers, just really get to your destination, bring the plane down safely. That, obviously, all changed on the 11th. So this is a much more active approach to training.
KOCH: The FAA says flight crews will be taught to act as a team, dismiss no passenger disturbance. Communicate concisely in emergencies, and get the plane on the ground quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come here!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let go, let go. Hand to the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let go. Back off. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
KOCH: Many flight attendants like Sandy Dahl want rigorous mandatory self-defense training as well. She began taking such courses after her husband, Jason, the pilot of United Airlines flight 93, died September 11th when that plane crashed in Pennsylvania.
SANDY DAHL, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: It's not just taking a self- defense course. It's definitely helped me feel more empowered. I really would like to see some hands-on training, and several hours of it.
KOCH: For security reasons, the FAA won't elaborate on the guidelines, but says basic elements of self-defense are included, and more could be added if necessary. The flight attendants are concerned that there are no requirements for nonlethal weapons like stun guns in the cabin.
PATRICIA FRIEND, ASSN. OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: We're not even talking about putting nonlethal weapons into the cabin. We're putting them in the cockpit, behind a barricaded cockpit door, with pilots with instructions not to open the door in the event of a disturbance. It just doesn't make any sense to us.
KOCH (voice-over): Airlines have two months to come up with training programs that meet the guidelines and until mid October to make certain all pilots and flight attendants are trained to respond to terrorist threats.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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