Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Sunday Morning

Will Air Travel Become Safer?

Aired December 01, 2002 - 08:12   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.


KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, on to the nation's airports, where people are heading home from the Thanksgiving holidays, where air travel is up 6 percent from last year. CNN's Kathleen Koch is at Reagan National Airport in Washington with details. Good morning, Kathleen. It's likely shaping up to be a busy day there.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It will be a busy day, but thus far it has been very quiet, much like Wednesday. We have very few delays, very short lines. And travelers are getting accustomed to new bag security checks that will be in place at most airports by the end of the year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Van-sized machines that weigh over a ton and cost over $1 million. They're being rushed to airports nationwide to meet a year-end deadline to screen all checked bags for explosives. But instead of the 2,200 explosives detection machines it has originally hoped for, the federal government has been able to order just half that number. And after a letter to Congress pleading for more time to put them in, some airports, as many as 35, will get an extension.

JAMES LOY, TSA: We've lost time, lost budget and have some very, very real engineering challenges associated with many of the bigger airports. And if we need to press those into the next calendar year, we will do that.

KOCH: The Transportation Security Administration won't say which airports won't make the original deadline, but Orlando, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Phoenix and Seattle are said to be among those experiencing the greatest difficulty fitting the machines into their terminals.

Most would like to see them incorporated behind the scenes in the airline's baggage handling areas, but that raises yet unsolved issues of how to open locked bags that register positive for explosives. The machines have 30 percent false positive rate, and who will be liable if locks are broken or items stolen?

DAVID STEMPLER, AIRLINE PASSENGERS ASSOCIATION: There's a big problem for airline passengers, because most passengers would not like to have their bags opened out of their presence. They'll perhaps claim that things were taken, were disrupted, were broken.

KOCH: In addition to the larger machines, 5,000 handheld trace detection units are being put in place to check for explosives. A final concern that the resulting longer ticket counter lines could present a tempting target for terrorists.

PAUL HUDSON, AVIATION CONSUMER ACTION PROJECT: Because we know since July 4 that ticket counter massacres are another serious possibility. And we've eliminated the National Guard at the airports, and we now have lightly armed and unarmed security people there.

KOCH: But the TSA has hinted it will be flexible to keep air travel moving.

LOY: There will not be two and three-hour waiting lines at our airports. That's outside the formula of reasonableness. And we will balance those things as appropriate to meet the end of our calendar year goals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH: And the TSA plans over the next few weeks to come up with some rules and procedures on just who can open what suitcases when and where, and who will be responsible for any items that are lost, broken or stolen -- Kris.

OSBORN: Kathleen Koch, live at Reagan National Airport in Washington, thank you very much.

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 December 1, 2002 - 08:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, on to the nation's airports, where people are heading home from the Thanksgiving holidays, where air travel is up 6 percent from last year. CNN's Kathleen Koch is at Reagan National Airport in Washington with details. Good morning, Kathleen. It's likely shaping up to be a busy day there.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It will be a busy day, but thus far it has been very quiet, much like Wednesday. We have very few delays, very short lines. And travelers are getting accustomed to new bag security checks that will be in place at most airports by the end of the year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Van-sized machines that weigh over a ton and cost over $1 million. They're being rushed to airports nationwide to meet a year-end deadline to screen all checked bags for explosives. But instead of the 2,200 explosives detection machines it has originally hoped for, the federal government has been able to order just half that number. And after a letter to Congress pleading for more time to put them in, some airports, as many as 35, will get an extension.

JAMES LOY, TSA: We've lost time, lost budget and have some very, very real engineering challenges associated with many of the bigger airports. And if we need to press those into the next calendar year, we will do that.

KOCH: The Transportation Security Administration won't say which airports won't make the original deadline, but Orlando, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Phoenix and Seattle are said to be among those experiencing the greatest difficulty fitting the machines into their terminals.

Most would like to see them incorporated behind the scenes in the airline's baggage handling areas, but that raises yet unsolved issues of how to open locked bags that register positive for explosives. The machines have 30 percent false positive rate, and who will be liable if locks are broken or items stolen?

DAVID STEMPLER, AIRLINE PASSENGERS ASSOCIATION: There's a big problem for airline passengers, because most passengers would not like to have their bags opened out of their presence. They'll perhaps claim that things were taken, were disrupted, were broken.

KOCH: In addition to the larger machines, 5,000 handheld trace detection units are being put in place to check for explosives. A final concern that the resulting longer ticket counter lines could present a tempting target for terrorists.

PAUL HUDSON, AVIATION CONSUMER ACTION PROJECT: Because we know since July 4 that ticket counter massacres are another serious possibility. And we've eliminated the National Guard at the airports, and we now have lightly armed and unarmed security people there.

KOCH: But the TSA has hinted it will be flexible to keep air travel moving.

LOY: There will not be two and three-hour waiting lines at our airports. That's outside the formula of reasonableness. And we will balance those things as appropriate to meet the end of our calendar year goals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH: And the TSA plans over the next few weeks to come up with some rules and procedures on just who can open what suitcases when and where, and who will be responsible for any items that are lost, broken or stolen -- Kris.

OSBORN: Kathleen Koch, live at Reagan National Airport in Washington, thank you very much.

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