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TIA takes reduction of screeners in stride

The cuts, part of a nationwide move, still could result in delays as passengers and bags are examined.

TAMPA - The impact of cuts to the nation's airport security force will be less severe at Tampa International than at many of the nation's other large airports.

"We actually fare better than a lot of other airports," said Louis Miller, executive director of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority.

But the cuts might still result in delays as passengers and bags are screened.

"That's a very hands-on job, and the fewer the hands, the longer the waits," he said.

After scrambling to hire 50,000 screeners by last November for the nation's 429 commercial airports, the Transportation Security Administration learned earlier this year that there wouldn't be enough money to pay them all.

The agency announced 6,000 positions would be eliminated by the end of September through attrition, transfers or a decrease in work hours.

The budget crunch will squeeze 144 positions from TIA's force of 828, but according to figures compiled by Miller, the remaining force of 684 will be more concentrated than at most other large airports.

Among 30 of the nation's largest airports, TIA is projected to rank 10th in the number of screeners per checkpoint with about 40 for each of the airport's 17 X-ray and metal-detection lanes. This is down from the 49 screeners per lane before the cuts, but slightly above the national average of 37.

Before the cuts, TIA ranked 11th for the number of screeners per checkpoint.

The biggest drop by far in the number of screeners per checkpoint will be in Salt Lake City, which had 1,026 screeners at its 15 checkpoints before the downsizing, an average of 68 screeners per lane. It will drop to 641 screeners, an average of 43 per lane.

Miller, the former executive director at Salt Lake City International Airport, said the reason for the big cut had to do with the Olympics.

"They staffed way up for the games and never came down from that," he said.

TIA will rank 19th in the annual number of passengers per screener, at 20,646. This is up from the 17,055 passengers per screener before the cutbacks and slightly above the national average of 19,357. TIA ranked 15th among the 30 large airports in the passengers-to-screener ratio before the cuts.

Screeners at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport will handle the largest number of passengers per screener a year at 31,440; screeners at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport will handle the least, at 13,785.

There is no direct corollary between the number of passengers an airport handles and the number of screeners it needs. Among the variables are the hours of operation (TIA doesn't have commercial service during the overnight hours) and the number of screening checkpoints.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, for example, will have 85.5 screeners per checkpoint, but it only has 12 checkpoints - five fewer than TIA - and serves nearly 6-million more passengers a year. It needs a lot more screeners at each checkpoint to keep things moving.

Los Angeles International Airport will have nearly 51 screeners at each of its 53 checkpoints, but its sheer size - nearly 40-million passengers a year flying round the clock, nearly three times TIA's 14-million passengers a year - requires a lot of screening personnel.

TSA spokeswoman Lauren Stover said Tuesday that the reductions were on schedule, and about half of them would be made by the end of this month.

"It requires us to think smarter as an organization," Stover said. "We've had to rethink schedules and staffing and create a more efficient environment. When it's over, we'll be left with a very lean and mean work force."

Highest projected number of screeners per checkpoint beginning Sept. 30, 2003:

1. Phoenix: 86

2. Orlando: 53

3. Los Angeles: 51

4. Honolulu: 49

5. Chicago Midway: 49

6. Chicago O'Hare: 47

7. Cincinnati: 43

8. Salt Lake City: 43

9. Portland, Ore.: 42

10. Tampa: 40

Lowest projected number of screeners per checkpoint beginning Sept. 30, 2003:

1. New York JFK: 21

2. St. Louis: 23

3. Newark: 25

4. Detroit: 26

5. Houston Bush: 28

Average among 30 largest airports: 37

Source: Tampa International Airport