Wants To Take Over Airport ID Checks, Too

Private security companies currently handle personal identification checks at US airports. If officials with the Transportation Security Administration have their way, however, those jobs will be soon occupied by TSA uniforms -- they just have to talk Congress into paying for it.

George N. Naccara is the head of TSA operations at Logan International Airport, and for the northeastern United States. He outlined the plan while speaking at the Boston Globe Travel Show, saying the request is just one of many efforts to deter terrorists and hijackers.

"It's another layer of security," Naccara said. "I would start it today if I could because I think it's a good idea."

Logan officials reportedly support the proposal. Before such a move could be implemented, it's estimated as many as 1,400 TSA officers would need to be added, Naccara said.

The agency can legally employ 45,000 uniformed workers. There has reportedly been talk among several Democratic congressional leaders, though, to raise or even remove that cap -- saying security threats should dictate staffing levels, instead budgetary concerns, according to the Boston Globe.

Naccara says there's nothing specifically wrong with the job performance of the private sector employees that currently check passengers' travel documents before they arrive at checkpoints -- but that "the agency is constantly looking to improve the rigor of airport security, including extending TSA presence and vigilance beyond the so-called sterile area between the checkpoint and gates."

"Having the agency responsible for checkpoint security identify passengers entering the sterile area makes complete sense," Logan spokesman Phil Orlandella said.

The 'sterile' area is the space between the checkpoints and gates. If security procedures have been properly followed, then only airport workers with security clearances and passengers cleared by TSA can enter it.

Logan International would likely be one of the first airports to see the change if it is approved by Congress. Major carriers support the proposal as they would stand to save millions by not having to provide private security.

"We think it will yield improved security, and it also fits congressional intent for the government to perform screening functions," said Victoria S. Day, a spokeswoman for the Air Transport Association.

Jenny Dervin, JetBlue Airways Corp. spokeswoman, acquiesced that "TSA's proposed takeover of these responsibilities will benefit JetBlue's cost-reduction efforts, but we have concerns that it may negatively impact present TSA staffing levels, which are already strained. Mandating additional responsibilities must be accompanied by additional resources."

Senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee US Representative Edward J. Markey is an outspoken critic of the aviation-security industry. He said he was "encouraged that the Bush administration has requested $60 million to hire the new travel-document checkers as part of the TSA's next fiscal year budget."

These new checkers "will provide another layer of security" with "special training to spot fraudulent documents and suspicious activity, increasing the likelihood that a terrorist or troubled individual will be intercepted before harming passengers," said Markey.

Carl M. Rubin, partner with software consulting firm Monument Data Solutions LLC, disagreed. "Any person with a pulse can check a license against a ticket," he said. "It would be a waste of my tax dollars to increase the cost of doing this."

FMI: www.tsa.gov