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CNN Saturday Morning News
Airlines Become Increasingly Security-Conscious
Aired October 13, 2001 - 09:45 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.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: We all know about beefed-up security measures at the nation's airports, but here's an indication of just how security-conscious the airlines have become: Delta canceled a nonstop flight from New York to Amsterdam last night because of a suspicious one-way booking. A source involved in the investigation told CNN two Mideast-looking men bought one-way tickets, two others inquired about doing so. According to the source, none of these people was on the FBI's watch list for potential terrorists.
Many private pilots and airports are still struggling in the wake of the September 11 attacks. In some cases, small planes are still grounded due to government restrictions.
As CNN's Patty Davis reports, the FAA cites security concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The planes sit idle. This airstrip, which normally sees 200 flights a day, unused for the past month, the dispatcher doing crossword puzzles.
STANLEY RODENHAUSER, OWNER, FREEWAY AIRPORT: I am definitely afraid of losing everything.
DAVIS: Stanley Rodenhauser owns Freeway Airport in Mitchellville, Maryland, one of 282 airports across the country crippled by FAA restrictions since the terrorist attacks.
RODENHAUSER: At 8:00 a.m. on September the 11th, we had 31 employees, and today we have four employees left. Everybody's been laid off.
DAVIS: Rodenhauser says he can only meet payroll for one more week.
RODENHAUSER: We're Freeway, which is right here.
DAVIS: The FAA had banned pilots who are not instrument-rated and do not file flight plans from taking to the skies within 20 nautical miles around many of the country's biggest airports. The FAA citing national security concerns.
The agency announced Friday it will lift the ban early next week in some metropolitan areas, but restrictions will remain in New York and Washington and around other large cities.
(on camera): The same restrictions apply to banner-towing planes and news helicopters. The banner-towers are suing the FAA to get the policy reversed and allow them to resume flying over sporting events.
(voice-over): More frustration for Rodenhauser, who's in the Washington, D.C., area and says his planes don't pose much of a threat.
RODENHAUSER: They weigh less than a -- probably half of a sport utility vehicle. If we were to hit a building, we probably wouldn't even break the windows.
DAVIS: The general aviation industry welcomed the FAA's action, but said losses of at least $500 million since September 11 will keep growing until the ban is completely lifted.
ED BOLEN, GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION: I think it's more than that. I think it's -- are -- if people having their property taken by their federal government, making a decision not to allow them into the air space, how long is that going to continue?
DAVIS: Rodenhauser says with no income and bank loans coming due, he could go bankrupt in a month.
RODENHAUSER: We all have had a rude awakening at -- on September the 11th. If we let one business fail due to this, then they have won, and we can't let that happen.
DAVIS: For now, Rodenhauser and his customers, grounded, watch and wait, hoping it won't come to that.
Patty Davis, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: To get more perspective from small airport operators, we are joined by Lee Schiek, who manages College Park Airport in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. Thank you, sir, for being with us this morning.
LEE SCHIEK, MANAGER, COLLEGE PARK AIRPORT: Good morning.
SAVIDGE: Obviously, as we saw in that report, I don't have to ask you if you have been impacted, but I guess if you could give us a sense of how badly you've been hit.
SCHIEK: College Park Airport is located seven miles from the Capitol building. It has a historical significance that it is the oldest operating airport in the world, going back to 1907, when Orville and Wilbur Wright taught the Army how to fly an airplane.
And we've survived a lot of things over these 92 years. We've survived tornadoes and hurricanes, we've survived depressions, economic collapses, world wars. It was a sad feeling the other night when the FAA allowed my aircraft at that airport to depart, and we watched 65 percent of our aircraft leave the facility, many of them never to return again.
SAVIDGE: Americans are obviously very nervous these days. How do you explain to them that this is vital? I mean, in other words, they may see these aircraft going back up. They don't tend to use them that often. And they say, Well, this is just one more thing I've got to keep focused on the skies for.
How do we stress the importance to the American public in general that don't fly, let's say, small planes?
SCHIEK: I think we need to put faces on the economic impact that the recent shutdown has done to local airports in the Washington area. We are looking at a young man who's trying to buy a house that, up until September 11, every day he will round the Washington suburbs giving traffic reports. He helped the area as far as traffic. He has been home unemployed since then.
Stan Rodenhauser on the piece just before this talked about the economic impact on his business. This is a loyal American who is going on his second half-century of providing aviation services, as far as training and charter work. He is in desperate straits.
I look at my own airport, where we were nurturing a private business as far as aircraft maintenance and radio work, where we had mechanics and people working daily, had a thriving business going, things were looking good. And it was sad to watch them last Sunday as they ironically backed a Ryder truck up to their hangar, loaded their tools, and left the area because they just can't hang on any more.
SAVIDGE: Have you been forced to lay people off?
SCHIEK: We have had reductions at the airport. As of right now, we are trying to find busy work for our people to do, doing some deferred maintenance. But if our complete lockdown continues, we'll be laying people off.
SAVIDGE: These restrictions that have been talked about being eased, is that going to help?
SCHIEK: I was delighted this morning when I saw that the enhanced class B around the nation was going to open up some air space for general aviation, but this is a two-edged sword. In addition to that, we have to keep in mind that we have six airports in Washington, D.C., that are under a temporary flight restriction. This is a no-fly zone. This is a Baghdad-type issue where you just will not operate your aircraft.
That is a separate issue from the relaxation of the rules nationwide right now.
SAVIDGE: So the situation for you is somewhat different mainly because of the location where you are.
SCHIEK: That's correct, and in our case, we are seven miles from the Capitol building.
SAVIDGE: And what will this mean for the future of general aviation?
SCHIEK: Locally, obviously the impact has been catastrophic. In the future, I would anticipate that pilots and companies using general aviation aircraft for transportation are going to have to always be wondering whether or not at some point their aircraft may be trapped in a facility. And this is just another dimension, another complexity that we have to add to what should be a rather efficient transportation system.
SAVIDGE: Do you think there's ever a point you'll have to shut down, close for good?
SCHIEK: We have survived a lot of things over the years, and to the FAA's credit, they did invite the airport managers from the facilities that were closed to the FAA headquarters last week. We have been assured by the highest levels of the FAA that they have every intention to open the airports and to restore flight operations.
I guess our biggest concern is timing. We have private businesses that are talking a matter of days for solvency. We're talking about a regulatory agency that is talking about a multiple- month resolution to the problem.
SAVIDGE: Well, Mr. Lee Schiek, thank you very much for joining us this morning. I think you've given us an insight into an area perhaps a lot of people had overlooked.
SCHIEK: Thanks for inviting me.
SAVIDGE: Thank you.
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