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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Roni Beavin-Lowe

Aired November 17, 2001 - 11:38   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 recent plane crash and the security breaches come just as President Bush prepares to sign into law a new airline security bill.

Roni Beavin Lowe, who is with the Passenger Security Alert Committee, joins us from Nashville, Tennessee to tell us what impact this new law could have on travelers.

Good to see you, Ronnie.

RONI BEAVIN-LOWE, PASSENGER SECURITY ALERT COMMITTEE: Hi.

PHILLIPS: Well, why don't you give us a little summation of this bill, your reaction; and let's talk about the pros and the cons.

BEAVIN-LOWE: I certainly think that this is a good first step at improving passenger security. I mean, I think all the evidence has continued to point to the fact that putting our safety in the hands of these for-profit firms has absolutely proven to be an utter failure. So we are just incredibly pleased that finally Congress has acted on this issue.

I have to say, though, that I find it obscene, really, that Congress, within a few days of the September 11 attacks, had already acted to bailout the airlines by giving them billions of dollars, and yet it's taken a full two months for Congress to finally act on behalf of passenger safety.

What I would have hoped is that by now we would have been two months into the process of making our airports safer. And unfortunately because of this delay, we're just now beginning that process.

PHILLIPS: Well, what is it specifically in this bill that you support, that you think is a good idea?

BEAVIN-LOWE: You know, I think most importantly we have finally taken the profit motivation out of our airport security. These firms -- it's been a cut-throat industry where they are cutting corners at every turn in order to secure these contracts for themselves.

And as a result of that, passenger security has obviously suffered. I mean, there's been clear evidence well before September 11. And as we see, there's still clear evidence of serious breaches today.

I think by putting this workforce in the hands of the federal government, we take that profit motivation out of it, and passenger security will be front and foremost, which is where it should be.

PHILLIPS: So federalization versus privatized security, you think, is the answer to all these problems?

BEAVIN-LOWE: I don't think it's going to be a panacea. I don't think -- I think there are going to be hiccups and that our group is going to continue to monitor this process. But I certainly think it's going to go a long way at improving the security in our airports.

PHILLIPS: Now what about this new fee that will be imposed? Will you explain this, and what you think about that?

BEAVIN-LOWE: Yes. This is going to be financed with the money that the airlines already spend on security, and then passengers are going to be asked to pay a few of up to -- of $2.50 or up to $5 on each ticket. I think passengers are overwhelmingly going to be happy to do that.

PHILLIPS: Are airlines going to have the opportunity to opt out of this?

BEAVIN-LOWE: Yes, and in fact that's one of our major criticisms of this bill. You know, and I frankly don't even understand this. On one hand, Congress is saying to us: We are going to make you more secure in airports by taking this out of these criminally negligent security firms' hands and putting it under control of the federal government. But on the other hand, they're saying to us that, oh by the way, in three years the airports can revert back to the system that has been clearly shown to be broken.

I think that's a mixed message, and I think that's a mistake. My only hope is that through this, through these new measures, airport security does improve enough and passenger confidence goes up and the airports won't choose that option. I really wish, however, that they didn't have that option.

PHILLIPS: Can you give me any specific stories that you have witnessed or that you know of that pretty much have shocked you about breaching security? I mean, obviously we have been reporting on this man at the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport and what he did; but do you witness things going on every single day?

BEAVIN-LOWE: You know, we just -- I know what is out in the press. And we have sort of compiled research and are trying to act as a clearinghouse of information for passengers.

It's been celebrated, the case at O'Hare where a man got through with a stun gun and knives, actually got through security with this. You know, breaches like that happen on an ongoing basis. When we actually researched it, we found that oftentimes the FAA has done inspections and found that security has let through people with grenades and explosives. The thing at O'Hare is not an isolated event. It's just that we are much more aware of these issues now. I think for one thing, Argenbright has been the leader in this industry -- private sector. We need to get those folks out of our airports immediately. It alarms me. They're in my own personal airport. I live in Nashville and I fly through, and they handle my security.

I think -- yes?

PHILLIPS: I'm sorry, I hate to wrap you up -- Roni Beavin-Lowe, Passenger Security Alert Committee -- but we've got to go to Capitol Hill, the news conference taking place on behalf of Senator Patrick Leahy.

(INTERRUPTED BY CNN COVERAGE OF A LIVE EVENT)

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