Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Michael Wascom

Aired November 24, 2001 - 09:29   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: Should we worry while we're traveling?

Well, now we're going to bring in our Michael Wascom. He's vice president of communications for the Air Transport Association. He joins us from Washington.

Good to see you, Michael.

MICHAEL WASCOM, AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

PHILLIPS: Great to have you.

Well, first of all, before we get into some of the details of traveling now in light of September 11 and the changes that have happened, are we seeing more travelers this holiday season or not? I have to tell you, when I went to pick up my family at the airport, it was pretty dead.

WASCOM: Well, Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the busiest holiday travel periods of the year, and this year we expected demand to be down about 15 to 20 percent over the course of the entire Thanksgiving travel period.

PHILLIPS: So -- but there are less flights taking place, right? So does that account for less people flying? Or kind of put it in perspective here.

WASCOM: Correct. Flights are down on average about 20 percent from where they were a year ago, since September the 15th, when the system was restarted, and the number of passengers traveling domestically is still off by about 29 or 30 percent. There was a slight upswing for Thanksgiving. Tomorrow, Sunday, is typically the busiest travel day of the year. I don't think we'll eclipse what we saw last year.

PHILLIPS: All right. So is this a time to get good deals? Should we start thinking about, you know, flights to Europe for Christmas?

WASCOM: Absolutely. There are many great fare sales out there right now. In fact, October air fares were down about 19 percent from a year ago, September air fares were down about 20 percent. In fact, I just bought a round trip ticket, international ticket, from Washington to Paris for travel next year for $276. It was that good of a deal.

PHILLIPS: There we go. Catherine, we can start planning ahead, because we're working this Christmas.

All right, Michael, well, let's talk about this aviation security law. It was a bill, it's been passed into law. Have you seen any changes to this point since it has been put into the books?

WASCOM: Well, clearly, this is going to be a gradual shift from the security system that we currently know to the new federal system. You'll see more National Guard troops at the airports, enhanced screening at the checkpoints, not only of carry-on bags but also physical bag searches.

A lot of the changes will happen behind the scenes that will be invisible to the public, such as the screening of all checked baggage. That's something that was required by the bill and will happen rather quickly.

PHILLIPS: Mike, what about the hiring process?

WASCOM: Well, ultimately that's going to be up to the federal government. The new law provides for a transition from the existing system to the new system. Certainly the airlines applauded the federalization of the process. Airlines are not law enforcement companies, and frankly, we strongly believe that the federal government should take over that responsibility.

That was accomplished by this legislation. But there will be a period to transition from the system that we have seen in the past to the new system.

PHILLIPS: What about discipline if someone fails the task of securing an area or checking a passenger thoroughly? Will we see a different shift in discipline since the federal government will take over?

WASCOM: Well, from the airlines' perspective, we will remain vigilant in our conduct of aviation security screening until such time as the federal government assumes that responsibility. Incompetence will not be tolerated. In fact, we have always operated under a zero tolerance policy. That will continue.

PHILLIPS: All right, Michael Wascom, thank you so much.

WASCOM: Thank you.

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