15 Airports Named in 1st Phase of Federal Security Takeover

The new federal office in charge of airline security announced Thursday that 15 airports will be the first group to have government employees conduct passenger and baggage screening.

The 15 airports--including Atlanta, Baltimore-Washington, Boston, O’Hare in Chicago and Kennedy in New York--are being studied by the new Transportation Security Administration as it prepares to replace the private companies now handling security.

By Nov. 19, passengers at all 429 commercial airports in the U.S. are to be screened by a higher-paid, better-trained federal work force.

These steps were outlined as the new agency prepared to assume responsibility Sunday for protecting airline passengers. Under the airline security law enacted after Sept. 11, the agency will displace the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Airline officials said a federal takeover of security was long overdue.

“When was the last time you heard anyone clamoring for private companies to perform customs or immigration functions?” asked Michael Wascom, a spokesman for the Air Transport Assn., the trade group for the major airlines. “Law enforcement and national security are federal government responsibilities.”

John Magaw, undersecretary for transportation security, said federal security officials would be in place Sunday.

Those supervisors will remain on the job until the agency hires federal security directors for each airport, Magaw said. The directors, who must be U.S. citizens, will be paid between $104,800 and $150,000.

Magaw said he was hiring an ombudsman to handle complaints from passengers and others. There have been several complaints about security screeners patting down passengers of the opposite sex.

“There are proper ways to search,” Magaw said.

The other 10 airports that will be the first to get federal security screeners are Anchorage; Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas-Fort Worth; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Louisville, Ky.; Minneapolis; Mobile, Ala.; Orlando, Fla.; San Francisco; and Spokane, Wash.