John Wayne’s Security Is Too Loose for Comfort

Re “Get Me to the Gate on Time,” July 28:

I see John Wayne Airport is a top pick if you want to get to your gate in a hurry. No surprise here. My husband has flown out of John Wayne twice since Sept. 11. Even though he has knee and hip replacements made with titanium, he breezed through the metal detector with nary a peep. Not so at other airports, where his metal body parts have never failed to set off bells and whistles. Is it possible that John Wayne Airport’s crack security system is a factor in the short waiting time?

Jeannie Woods

Laguna Beach

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I fly fairly often, and I appreciate the increased security at our nation’s airports. I would like to know why when I went through security at John Wayne Airport on June 24 we were told there was no need to show photo identification. I also learned from a United Airlines employee that there was no one checking ID cards at the employee parking lot, a procedure that supposedly has been in place for some time.

Why are we even going through the long lines and extra steps of having a security person checking if a person wishing to enter the gate area does not need to prove who he or she is?

Has the FAA quietly changed its procedures, or is this just isolated to John Wayne? I would also like to know why these security procedures have changed and when the changes were instituted.

Jay Kotin

Irvine