Gender Rules Issued for Airport Pat-Downs

Screeners at airport checkpoints will not frisk passengers of the opposite sex, the head of the Transportation Security Administration announced Wednesday.

John Magaw, who heads the security agency, said male screening agents would pat down males and female workers would do the same for women.

“You will not have a male frisking a female,” Magaw said.

In addition, the security agency is setting standards for when to frisk passengers at airport checkpoints, Magaw said.

“We want every passenger to be treated with respect,” Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said.

The Assn. of Flight Attendants said hundreds of its members reported being touched inappropriately by screeners of the opposite sex.

Union spokeswoman Dawn Deeks said the complaints ended after Feb. 17, when the Transportation Security Administration took over responsibility for airport security.

“It had been a big problem,’ Deeks said. “We were receiving lots of reports of inappropriate screenings. It does seem to be getting better.”

The problem had reached such proportions that the home page on the union’s Web site included a special section on what do to if singled out for frisking, including asking to talk to airport police.

Magaw said there should be screeners of both sexes available at every checkpoint.

“If we don’t have a mixed work force, we’re not recruiting properly,” Magaw said.

He said the agency will have a hotline and an ombudsman to hear complaints about how passengers and flight crews are treated by security screeners.

The agency also unveiled its logo Wednesday: A black and white eagle preparing to soar over nine stars and 11 stripes of a waving American flag.

The number of stars and stripes is to commemorate Sept. 11, the date of the terrorist attacks that led Congress to create the Transportation Security Administration.