Red Tape Is Tying Up More Than Holiday Packages

Before you book that flight to Grandma’s house, now that a new air travel security bill could be in place by Thanksgiving, you might want to think twice.

Just Wednesday, the top cop for the air transit system told a Senate committee there have been 90 security breaches--described as “alarming lapses”--since Oct. 31.

Very few details were made available. But Department of Transportation Inspector General Kenneth Mead did say most of the machines that scan checked-in baggage around the country weren’t even being used full time, and one screener was spotted dozing off.

There’s a joke going around about three airport security workers who are suspected terrorists. Their names are Been Loafin’, Been Stealin’ and Been Noddin’. At least I think it’s a joke.

To be fair, Washington finally appears to be moving in the right direction, and it only took 65 days, four hijackings, a crash of undetermined cause, and 4,000-plus deaths.

Agreement was reached Thursday on the temporary federalizing of airport screeners. And if the rest of the bill is signed by President Bush, which seems a good bet, they may be scanning checked-in bags for bombs by the end of next year.

As a concerned citizen, and perhaps an occasional flier, you might be wondering why it has taken so long to get to this point. Especially given the frightening fact that more than 90% of checked-in luggage is not scanned on domestic flights.

While the answers are many--bureaucratic sloth, toothless regulators, the exceptional work of the airline lobby--there isn’t one that won’t make you pull your hair out.

And there’s no good explanation as to why we can’t start the process immediately, as some in Congress are finally suggesting. Paul Hudson, of the Aviation Consumer Action Project, says it would take no more than a few months to implement a bag-matching system that would greatly reduce the likelihood of a bomb in the belly of a plane.

But one year to install scanners isn’t bad. The last serious call to screen luggage for bombs came after Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Scotland, and that was 13 years ago.

Nothing gets done in a hurry in this business. There have been calls for better black boxes for years, because they can be damaged in a crash, as happened Monday with American Flight 587 in New York. Fortunately, the damage on that flight recorder was repaired.

“It’s not an expense issue,” Hudson says. “It’s a liability issue.”

In other words, Hudson says, there was no rush to use better data recorders, because they might have provided stronger evidence for lawsuits.

Or, to put it even more bluntly, airlines would rather avoid getting sued than learn details that could prevent future loss of life.

Maybe, Hudson suggests, it’s time to run with consumer activist Ralph Nader’s call for an airline passengers association.

“If you charged one penny per one-way ticket, it could raise sufficient money to counter industry influence, which is never going to go away.”

I’m all for it. But in the meantime, what a relief to have more National Guard troops on the way to the airport.

“We want holiday travel to be safe and fast,” Gov. Davis said Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport.

Is it just me, or does it seem like the governor, who’s running for reelection, makes eight or 10 weekly appearances with the Guard?

Davis said Guard duties will now be broadened to include something other than standing around watching people go through carry-on checkpoints.

As far as I’m concerned, if they’re not going to be put to work inspecting checked-in luggage, they might as well be in the parking lot handing out turkeys. In fact, if it’s going to take another whole year before checked-in bags are scanned, why not have the Guard help out in the interim?

Davis, no slowpoke he, is finally catching on after just four weeks of photo-ops. He said he asked the FAA for permission to put the troops to work checking bags.

Yes, he had to ask permission.

It’s a funding and red tape issue.

Look for an answer by Christmas.

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Steve Lopez writes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at steve.lopez@latimes.com.