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American Morning

New Security Regulations Get Mixed Reactions on First Day

Aired January 18, 2002 - 08:09   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As we have been reporting this morning, airport security should be getting -- well, we shouldn't say "better." It's going to get a little change starting today. Mandated by Congress in the wake of September 11, airlines are required now to screen all bags placed on domestic flights, primarily by matching passengers to their luggage, and there's mixed opinions about this, as you might imagine.

Let's see how it is all working out. We call on CNN's Gary Tuchman, who joins us from Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta, Mark Potter on duty at the Orlando Airport in Florida, and Kathleen Koch and the Dulles International Airport near Washington -- Gary, you're first up. How is working out there this morning?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, more than 80 million passengers fly in and out the Atlanta airport each year. It works out to about 220,000 a day, and if you walk into that terminal right now, it almost appears as if all 220,000 people are here right now. The passengers have come very early to the airport, in some cases three or four or five hours early -- which basically is totally unnecessary, and I'll tell you more about that in a second -- because they are concerned about these new regulations, but so far everything seems to be going smoothly.

Now, airport officials here are notoriously tight-lipped, while other airports show us their new X-ray machines. Atlanta airport won't even tell us if they have X-ray machines. They do tell us, though, that 100 percent of the bags will be checked. And what's happening, airlines are telling their passengers to come two hours early. That's good advice. People are coming so early, though, that it has made this airport very crowded, even for a Friday, and then it will probably keep it exceptionally crowded all day.

We now go 400 miles south of here to the Orlando International Airport and my colleague, Mark Potter.

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Gary. Here in Orlando, things also are going smoothly. Airport officials say they have seen no delays related to the new screening procedure. They run a lot of people through this airport too, as you can imagine; 65,000 to 70,000 people a day. It could be even more this weekend, because of the long Martin Luther King holiday. They are going to be screening about 100,000 bags per day, but airline and airport officials say they are ready. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB RAFFEL, SAFETY DIR., ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: The airlines have been -- they have done this before. They have just never done everybody before. They have been practicing all week. Some of them have been practicing for several weeks. We have been meeting with them consistently and constantly, and they assure us that they anticipate a minimum of problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POTTER: Now, airport officials say that most of the airlines are using the bag matching procedure. Some are also using bomb-detection machines. But again, here in Orlando so far at this early hour, everything seems to be going smoothly.

Let's now go to Kathleen Koch at Dulles Airport in Washington -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mark, a very similar story here at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. We're right next to the Delta ticket counter, where there is a bit of a lull right now, not very many flights going out at this hour.

We just walked down to the other end of the terminal to check out the action at the United ticket counter, where there was a line, and every single passenger we talked to was very aware of these new bag screening requirements.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's why we made sure we were here on time, and we have taken only one suitcase instead of two.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Now, this is one of only 53 airports in the country that does have the large explosive detection screening machines in place, and that, of course, is the best method to use to spot a bomb inside a suitcase. However, we saw that they were only in moderate use, being primarily used for international flights. Here, as in most of the rest of the country, the airlines are using bag matching to make sure that no bag goes into the belly of the plane if the passenger who it belongs to isn't also seated on that plane. They are using that method, again, only on the originating leg of a flight, not on the connecting leg.

Now, that's one reason, though, that airlines say they want you to get to that gate, not five minutes, not ten minutes before departure, but 30 minutes before departure. And they say they want to do that, because they want that as a precaution. They want to make sure that they don't have to yank your bag out of the belly of the plane -- Paula.

ZAHN: Kathleen Koch -- appreciate that update so much. Also, appreciated the reports from your colleagues, Gary and Mark -- glad to see things are moving along at the nation's airports this morning.

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