The Nation - News from March 17, 1988

The Transportation Department has proposed regulations requiring 269 airports serving 95% of airline passengers to install computer-controlled access systems at doors and gates leading to areas generally not open to the public. Airport and airline employees would use identification cards to gain access to the restricted areas of the airports. “The cards can be electronically coded to permit access only to those areas that an individual employee is authorized to enter,” Transportation Secretary James H. Burnley IV said. The regulation when made final will require airport operators to submit a plan for installing the system and complete installation six months later.