Federal airport screeners in place
By William Cole
Advertiser Staff Writer
Officials at Honolulu International Airport yesterday said the airport — like all 429 commercial airports nationwide — has met today's congressional deadline for deploying security screeners.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
"Critics said we couldn't do it, that we couldn't get a work force of more than 44,000 screeners hired and trained in time," said Sidney Hayakawa, Transportation Security Administration security director in Honolulu. Hayakawa said a "dark picture" was painted of mass confusion and missed flights. "Once again we've proved the critics wrong," he said.
Letrice Titus, a federal screener, works a security checkpoint at Honolulu International Airport. Today is the deadline for airports to have federal security screeners in place.
As of last Tuesday, all six security checkpoints and 49 gates at the Honolulu airport were federalized. About 525 screeners are employed at the airport. The first of those employees reported to work Oct. 1.
Hilo and Kahului switched to federal screeners Oct. 8. Lowrey Leong, federal security director for Kahului, Lana'i, and Moloka'i airports issued a statement yesterday saying his Maui County airports are "fully federalized" with screeners at checkpoint, gate and lobby baggage positions.
U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said Hawai'i and the Honolulu airport in particular are among the safest in the nation. "I can assure you, as Honolulu is an international entryway from throughout Asia and the Pacific, that the security here will be absolutely the best," the congressman said.
President Bush signed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act one year ago, creating the administration in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. In Washington, yesterday, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said that in one year the agency has put more air marshals on flights, named 158 security directors and met every mandate set by Congress.
A new Dec. 31 deadline to check baggage for explosives is expected to be more difficult to meet. Hayakawa said an extra 400 screeners will be needed in Honolulu, but added that Congress is moving to allow waivers.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Unintentionally or intentionally, passengers continue to test airport screeners. On display at yesterday's news conference at checkpoint No. 5 were dozens of confiscated items seized from carry-on bags, including a box cutter, a lighter made to resemble a pistol, a butcher's knife, straight razors, fake hand grenades and scissors. Officials said it was a sampling of a typical few day's take by screeners in Honolulu.
Certified screener Sherman Kaahanui sports the Transportation Security Administration patch on his sleeve. It features nine stars, 11 stripes, and the twin towers on the eagle's wing.
Hayakawa said customer courtesy and efficiency are priorities. He has set 10 minutes for the average maximum wait to reach a checkpoint. Clocks will be put in this week to start timing the wait in line.
Screeners now receive five times more training than before the jobs were federalized, and Hayakawa said he expects detection rates to increase.
Waiting in the security line for a flight home to Sacramento, once-a-month flier Lisa Watson said her experience has been that the screeners are "very thorough — sometimes annoyingly thorough" but are nicer about it. "It's much more professional since they've switched (to federal employees)," Watson said. "They are more polite, and they communicate with you when you come through."
Bob Beane flew last year from California to Tennessee soon after the Sept. 11 attacks, "and you had some guys standing around with M-16s and that was the extent of it. (Security) seems to be more thorough now."
"Now, you are being checked and re-checked, and you feel a little bit safer," he said.
Beane, 46, was returning home to California from a honeymoon to Hawai'i with his wife, Deej, 46. With the FBI warning — later downplayed — of the possibility of a "spectacular" terrorist attack, Deej Beane said "I think there's a huge cause for concern, but we can't be paranoid about it. We can't stop our lives."
U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said that last year there were more than 10 million domestic, international and inter-island travelers who departed from Honolulu. Each day there are 28,165 outbound travelers passing through the gates. He said his office will support federal screeners by "aggressively prosecuting" anyone bringing destructive devices on planes.
He also said his office will prosecute anyone who threatens security people, any person using false documents to travel and anyone assaulting a flying passenger or interfering with flight crews.
Advertiser Staff Writer Timothy Hurley contributed to this report.
