Posted on: Thursday, August 14, 2003

EDITORIAL
We can make interisland travel work

Only the most wildly optimistic are hoping that interisland air travel will return to its free (well, nearly free) and easy pre-Sept. 11 heyday.

Times have changed for the interisland business, and adjust we must.

But as reporter Dan Nakaso pointed out in an article this week, adjustment has not been easy nor particularly pretty. Cost-cutting by red-ink-plagued airlines and vastly increased security have made what was once a relatively pleasant event something entirely different.

But interisland travel need not be the trial it has become. Things will improve all by themselves over time as the airlines and the security services shake out the bugs. In the meantime, there are things both passengers and airport officials can do to make things easier:

• Arrive early, for starters. Much of the aggravation of long lines comes not from the lines themselves but from the panic one feels as departure time approaches.

• Pack wisely. Passengers who carry unwieldy and poorly organized carry-on and check-in luggage will simply delay themselves and others in line.

(And along those lines, for goodness sake, don't attempt to carry on items that will trigger security concerns. Borrow a box cutter when you get there rather than thinking you can bring one along in your pocket to open your local-style boxed "luggage.")

• And speaking of security, within the considerations of limited budgets, there should be a system where those who trigger security concerns can be shunted to a separate line so those behind do not have to wait extra time.

Further, security officials should be carefully monitoring where the human log-jams occur and schedule screeners accordingly.

• The airlines could help. They have begun offering e-ticketing, which means passengers can purchase tickets and get boarding passes on-line, avoiding the check-in process altogether. Islanders are reluctant to use this system, apparently, but the more who do, the faster things will go.

The airlines should also consider a system in which passengers — particularly those without check-in luggage — could be encouraged to go directly to the security lines where agents with hand-held computers could check them in and give them their boarding passes.

If it can work for express mail delivery companies and car rental firms, it can work for the airlines.