Airports critical of screeners

About one-quarter of the nation's commercial airports no longer want government employees screening passengers and baggage, preferring private companies working under federal supervision, a congressman said Thursday.

Airport directors are upset with the Transportation Security Administration's inability to adjust staffing to meet demand, which results in long waits at some airports, said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House aviation subcommittee.

He said he had met with more than a dozen airport directors from around the country.

Concerns about long lines at airports were underscored by a Federal Aviation Administration report released Thursday that said domestic flights are expected to increase by 4.8 percent this year.

Some large airports, such as those in Orlando and Los Angeles, have only 80 percent of the screeners they need, while some small airports have too many.

"It appears it's almost impossible for the TSA to micromanage staff and deal with schedule changes and fluctuations in traffic at all 429 (commercial) airports," Mica said.

Congress created the TSA after the Sept. 11 attacks and ordered it to replace the privately employed screeners with a better paid, better trained federal work force. But lawmakers also gave airports the option of returning to private screeners on Nov. 19, three years after President Bush signed the bill into law. Mica said he expects more than 100 will take that option this fall.

To gauge how well federal screeners were doing, Congress ordered five commercial airports to use privately employed screeners who are hired, trained, paid and tested to TSA standards. A report comparing the performance of both kinds of screeners is due next month.

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