Luggage screening not another line

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

New federal security procedures at airports won't require most passengers to wait in line while their luggage is screened, officials said yesterday.

Travelers waited to have luggage screened at Honolulu International Airport in January. The new procedure is expected to go quicker. Advertiser library photo • Jan. 18, 2002

Under the new procedures, in place at all airports by Dec. 31, customers heading for a Neighbor Island or the Mainland will be asked to check in their luggage unlocked, then will be free to head to the gates, said Sidney Hayakawa, airport federal security director.

Passengers who keep their bags locked will be given a card warning them that it could be opened forcibly; they will have the option of waiting with their luggage if they want to relock it after the inspection is done.

"We expect the procedures will add a little bit of time it takes to check in our passengers, but it shouldn't be too bad," said Keoni Wagner, a spokesman for Hawaiian Airlines.

A Honolulu passenger headed for the Mainland might face as many as four lines:

• Agriculture inspection station.
• Passenger check-in with the airline.
• Luggage check-in with federal screeners.
• Passenger-only security checkpoint between the check-in area and the gates.

A fifth level of screening at the gate is being scaled back to occasional random searches, Hayakawa said.

The biggest problems may come from passengers who insist on keeping their bags locked, he said.

Explosives detection machines will be used to screen checked luggage twice, for objects that can't be identified and chemicals. Bags that trigger a positive reading will be opened and searched by members of the Transportation Security Administration.

"We'd asking people to leave their bags unlocked so that if we get a positive reading, we can look inside without too much delay," Hayakawa said.

If a locked bag sets off an alarm, TSA screeners will first try to locate the passenger but would force open the lock if necessary.

Federal officials have said many common objects, including tightly packed books, chocolate macadamia nuts, cheese and pineapples could generate a "false positive" reading and require that be inspected. They suggest passengers take food, film and other dense objects in carry-on bags.

Once a bag is opened and found safe, screeners will repack the luggage, close it with a tamper-proof seal and turn it over to airline baggage handlers.

The seal will show that all the passenger's belongings were in the bag once federal inspectors were done with it.

"Of course, if someone says something was stolen, there's going to be a certain amount of finger-pointing," Hayakawa said. "We're trying to keep that to a minimum."

The new baggage screening procedures are being implemented at one of the busiest times of the year, and might lead to delays, Hayakawa said.

Wagner said the airlines had been assured the federal security agency has enough flexibility to reallocate staff and resources from one part of the airport to another if problems occur.