Travelers Start Feeling Security Rules

Airports, airlines and passengers began dealing with a new, more constrained style of air travel Friday under the tougher security measures ordered by President Clinton.

Some new measures were visible at a number of major U.S. airports, although an informal survey by The Times found that the impact varied widely depending on the airport and the kind of traffic it usually accommodates.

Officials at Los Angeles International Airport said airlines had begun conducting hand searches of carry-on baggage and would begin additional procedures during the next several days.

Delays at LAX appeared minimal Friday, but they are expected to increase as new measures are taken. Among the new procedures will be X-raying of luggage on some domestic flights and a requirement to “match” cargo with specific passengers on overseas flights.

U.S. officials said the Federal Aviation Administration, which is overseeing the operation, began sending out a stream of new directives within minutes of the president’s announcement Thursday, contacting industry executives to discuss the new requirements.

At the same time, airport and airline officials began putting together proposals of their own. Richard Martin, a spokesman for United Airlines, said his firm expected to have tighter restrictions in place by late Friday, although he refused to give details.

David Hinson, the FAA administrator, said other new requirements will be phased in “over a period of days and some over a period of weeks.” But he would not elaborate on that timetable, contending that to do so would jeopardize security.

Officials at airports in several large “high-threat” cities with high volumes of international traffic--such as New York, Atlanta and San Francisco--said their terminals had already instituted many of the procedures Clinton announced and probably would not increase them.

But taking their cue from administration policymakers, federal officials and spokesmen for the airlines and major airports refused to discuss either the scope of the new restrictions or their timetable, saying that would only make them less effective.

Some travel agents reported being instructed by airlines to have their clients check in early. Officials at Miami International Airport said their new security measures mean that passengers should count on doubling--to two hours--the amount of time they spend at the airport before their flights.

Passengers at Houston Intercontinental Airport reported that security was not unusually strict Friday and that there were no long delays--suggesting that if major new procedures were being planned there, they were yet to be put into effect.

Gayle Goodman, a Houston passenger, expressed surprise that no one had asked her whether she had packed her own bags or had accepted a carry-on package from anyone, a standard precaution at many airports.

“I thought they were going to step up security,” she said.

At Burbank Airport, United, Southwest and other airlines were taking additional precautions and asking all passengers for identification before boarding, said airport spokeswoman Angela Cranon. She said the airport is advising passengers to arrive 90 minutes before their flights.

Around the country, initial indications are that travelers are willing to put up with the added inconvenience if the restrictions will help prevent terrorist bombings.

A poll taken by WINZ, a Miami radio station, reported that 90% of local listeners approved of the new steps, despite the possibility of extra delays and higher ticket prices. Interviews with passengers at several airports produced a similar response.

At LAX, Henry Quintana, whose family was delayed while a security agent searched a small bag, took the incident in stride. “That’s never happened to me before but, with everything that is going on, I don’t mind at all,” he said.

Michael Warner, a New York-based retailer, said he had the same reaction when he was stopped at John F. Kennedy International Airport before a flight to Los Angeles. “I thought, ‘Thank God,’ ” Warner said. “I come from New York. I live on Long Island. Need I say more?”

Israel Boim, a Houston-based airport security consultant, forecast that at a minimum, all airports will restrict gate areas to passengers who have tickets, step up screening and inspection of luggage, and intensify training of airport security officers.

He also predicted that authorities will have to begin recruiting--and paying--higher-quality security personnel to replace many of those who currently are on duty. Security agents should be given “a big responsibility . . . and should be paid accordingly,” he said.

Most industry analysts said the new security procedures probably will not result in significantly higher air fares. But they suggested that the added inconvenience could make air travel less desirable.

“They have got to make sure what they do does not unnecessarily raise the hassle factor of traveling,” said industry analyst Jeffrey Long at J.P. Morgan Securities in New York. “You don’t want to have a family with two or three children standing in line for two hours waiting to get searched.”

On Friday morning, Thomas Nulty, president of Associated Travel Management in Santa Ana, faxed his customers a notice advising them to get to the airport earlier to avoid missing a flight and to carry additional photo identification. “The days of dashing to the airport at the last minute might be over,” he said.

Contributing to this story were Times staff writers James Rainey and Jesus Sanchez in Los Angeles, Leslie Helm in Seattle and Gebe Martinez in New York and researchers Lianne Hart in Houston, Anna M. Virtue in Miami and John Beckham in Chicago.