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Federal Air Marshal Program Faces Challenges

Aired August 29, 2002 - 14:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Before September 11, the Federal Air Marshal Program consisted of fewer than 50 people who rode airplanes incognito and looked out for trouble. Since then as many as 6,000 marshals have been added, but "USA Today" reports hundreds of people have already gotten fed up and quit.
CNN's Kathleen Koch is live at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. with more.

Well, it doesn't make us all feel very safe anymore , Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, it's really tough to nail down just how serious this problem is. CNN has been following the issue for some time. A few weeks ago we spoke with the union that represents the border patrol, which has lost roughly some 700 agents to the ranks of the air marshals.

Now, the union rep says, well, 90 percent of our people who have left to go be the air marshals are unhappy, they are not pleased. As you quoted "USA Today," they're saying that people are leaving the ranks of the air marshals at the rate of a dozen a week; that they're even calling in sick because they can't handle the long, long hours that they're being asked to fly 10 days in a row and they're becoming ill.

The Transportation Department, though, completely disputes -- they say they are not having resignations in great number at al, that the attrition rate is very low. They say that, yes, it is a tough job, but that people who are signing on are sticking with it. They say there is not a crisis in the ranks.

Recently though, I had spoken, myself, with air marshals here at Reagan National Airport, people from other agencies like the Customs Service, the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Drug Enforcement Agency who were just temporarily detailed as air marshals. They told me it was a thankless job. Very difficult, very boring, very tedious. They were very anxious to leave the job.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Now Kathleen, we pay this surcharge every time we buy tickets. It started after September 11. If marshals are quitting and it's said there's not enough resources to keep this program going at the pace they want to keep it going, where's all that money going? KOCH: Well, as you know, there are a lot of other improvements that have been made in aviation security since 9/11. That $10 per round-trip ticket fee began being collected back in January, and it's been paying for the increased screening that you see, people who are checked with the trace detection units, where they swab your hands, your suitcase for explosives, for the very large explosive detection screening machines that are supposed to be in place in every single airport by December. Now, those machines cost $1 million apiece. There are some 435 airports. They're going to need so many of those.

And at this point they are saying -- the Transportation Department saying they don't have the budget to pay for them there. So there is talk that there might be more fees coming our way, but Congress is very reluctant to impose them.

PHILLIPS: All right, we talked about the questions being eliminated that the agents always ask us every time we check in because they prove not to be worthy.

Now what about restrictions on September 11?

KOCH: Well, what we're looking at on 9/11 is that the Transportation Department, the FAA wants to be extremely cautious.

SO what they're saying is that international flights, also general aviation flights and charter flights will not be able to come within a 30-mile radius of Washington, D.C., New York City and also Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A lot of events going on on 9/11 in those cities. And restrictions in New York continue all the way through the 13th, but they're just being extra cautious -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kathleen Koch, thank you so much.

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