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Holiday Travel: Snow and Security

Aired November 27, 2002 - 13:12   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The nation's airports geared up today to test post-9/11 security in the face of holiday travel from the busy Northeast. All ill-timed snow has made the challenge even tougher.
CNN's Maria Hinojosa is standing by at New York's La Guardia Airport.

Tell us how things are going there. Hi, Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Well, Kyra, I have to tell you, it's a little empty here at La Guardia. They've been ebbing and flowing. It was very busy this morning. When you speak to some of the people around here to find out why does it feel so empty, well lot of people coming up with some kind of explanations. Some people chose to travel out of La Guardia or New York yesterday because of fear of the storm, or perhaps because there's extra staffing, people are coming in earlier so there's not that much of a crunch.

But the workers are saying that they feel like it's definitely busier. This is not a normal kind of flow. But flight attendant I spoke to said this was -- this emptiness she felt the same at national airport as she sees it here, and she says, I have to say, that if this is the busiest air travel day for the United States, that the air travel industry is in big trouble. So at least there are some people who are concerned. There has been an ebb and flow.

There were a lot of lines for the security check-in point. There were also not too long ago lot of extra security that showed up. The Port Authority Police Department with some of their dogs and machine guns were walking around. And with me now is Mark Hatfield. He is Hartfield's spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration.

Now, Mark, give us a sense of what you're seeing on your end. There was a lot of traffic; now it's pretty much controlled?

MARK HATFIELD JR., TSA SPOKESPERSON: We really found an equilibrium here between the number of people arriving at the ticket side and then being passed on through the security checkpoint.

As you mentioned earlier this morning, I think a lot of people were uncertain what to expect, and with all of the new security in place and the talk about that new security, as well as in New York, we had the threat of snow, and a little bit did show up this morning, people came very early. So there was a big bunch-up in the early part of the day.

However, I think it paid off for a lot of those people, because they ended up finding themselves at their gates in plenty of time.

And really, as far as security check points are concerned, we've been able to keep under our 10-minute processing goal. That's 10 minutes from the time they arrive in line until they pass through security. And with one exception, we've been keeping with that.

HINOJOSA: Right, there was an exception. There was an arrest earlier today, someone who had an unregistered gun.

HATFIELD: We did. In fact, in a piece of checked baggage, a gentleman was arrested for having an illegal weapon.

HINOJOSA; And no incident there?

HATFIELD: That's correct.

HINOJOSA: And now heightened security because of what we're hearing coming out of France, a possible hijacking there?

HATFIELD: Security is at a high level, and we can look to homeland security and the federal government when they changed the levels of security, and I think that incidents like the hijacking in France and others are going to happen against a backdrop of an already heightened security environment that we're in.

HINOJOSA: All right, thank you very much, Mark Hatfield, from the TSA.

So we will be here throughout the day. I have heard that they're expecting another big push. The afternoon push, sometime around 3:00 or 4:00. But it looks like a lot of people are leaving extra time. So I'll tell you, the busiest place we're seeing right now is the cafeteria right behind me, where a lot of people are just eating lunch, and people don't look harried. They just look kind of relaxed. So that's a different sense for, obviously, this busy day of travel.

PHILLIPS: Hopefully you'll get a lunch break, too. Maria Hinojosa, thank you.

HINOJOSA: That would be nice.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll make sure of that. Thanks, Maria.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 27, 2002 - 13:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The nation's airports geared up today to test post-9/11 security in the face of holiday travel from the busy Northeast. All ill-timed snow has made the challenge even tougher.
CNN's Maria Hinojosa is standing by at New York's La Guardia Airport.

Tell us how things are going there. Hi, Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Well, Kyra, I have to tell you, it's a little empty here at La Guardia. They've been ebbing and flowing. It was very busy this morning. When you speak to some of the people around here to find out why does it feel so empty, well lot of people coming up with some kind of explanations. Some people chose to travel out of La Guardia or New York yesterday because of fear of the storm, or perhaps because there's extra staffing, people are coming in earlier so there's not that much of a crunch.

But the workers are saying that they feel like it's definitely busier. This is not a normal kind of flow. But flight attendant I spoke to said this was -- this emptiness she felt the same at national airport as she sees it here, and she says, I have to say, that if this is the busiest air travel day for the United States, that the air travel industry is in big trouble. So at least there are some people who are concerned. There has been an ebb and flow.

There were a lot of lines for the security check-in point. There were also not too long ago lot of extra security that showed up. The Port Authority Police Department with some of their dogs and machine guns were walking around. And with me now is Mark Hatfield. He is Hartfield's spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration.

Now, Mark, give us a sense of what you're seeing on your end. There was a lot of traffic; now it's pretty much controlled?

MARK HATFIELD JR., TSA SPOKESPERSON: We really found an equilibrium here between the number of people arriving at the ticket side and then being passed on through the security checkpoint.

As you mentioned earlier this morning, I think a lot of people were uncertain what to expect, and with all of the new security in place and the talk about that new security, as well as in New York, we had the threat of snow, and a little bit did show up this morning, people came very early. So there was a big bunch-up in the early part of the day.

However, I think it paid off for a lot of those people, because they ended up finding themselves at their gates in plenty of time.

And really, as far as security check points are concerned, we've been able to keep under our 10-minute processing goal. That's 10 minutes from the time they arrive in line until they pass through security. And with one exception, we've been keeping with that.

HINOJOSA: Right, there was an exception. There was an arrest earlier today, someone who had an unregistered gun.

HATFIELD: We did. In fact, in a piece of checked baggage, a gentleman was arrested for having an illegal weapon.

HINOJOSA; And no incident there?

HATFIELD: That's correct.

HINOJOSA: And now heightened security because of what we're hearing coming out of France, a possible hijacking there?

HATFIELD: Security is at a high level, and we can look to homeland security and the federal government when they changed the levels of security, and I think that incidents like the hijacking in France and others are going to happen against a backdrop of an already heightened security environment that we're in.

HINOJOSA: All right, thank you very much, Mark Hatfield, from the TSA.

So we will be here throughout the day. I have heard that they're expecting another big push. The afternoon push, sometime around 3:00 or 4:00. But it looks like a lot of people are leaving extra time. So I'll tell you, the busiest place we're seeing right now is the cafeteria right behind me, where a lot of people are just eating lunch, and people don't look harried. They just look kind of relaxed. So that's a different sense for, obviously, this busy day of travel.

PHILLIPS: Hopefully you'll get a lunch break, too. Maria Hinojosa, thank you.

HINOJOSA: That would be nice.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll make sure of that. Thanks, Maria.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com