Feds May Relax Post-Sept. 11 Airport-Security Rule, Beginning With Pittsburgh

AP via TBO ^ | April 19, 2004 | Joe Mandak

[John W]

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh International could become the nation's first major airport to get the OK to abandon the post-Sept. 11 rule that says only ticketed passengers are allowed past security checkpoints. Federal security officials are considering allowing people once more to say their hellos and goodbyes to friends and loved ones at the gate.

Airport officials and western Pennsylvania's congressional delegation have pushed for two years for the change for reasons of money and passenger convenience.

What happens here could become a model for other airports.

"This is new, this is exciting, because we're basically rewriting the security directives in order to allow nonticketed passengers to go through security," said JoAnn Jenny, spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which runs the airport.

Pittsburgh is a strong candidate for the experiment for two reasons: It has a centralized security checkpoint in one terminal. And it has a full-scale shopping mall that has suffered a drop-off in business because it is reachable only by ticketed passengers.

If the change is approved, people without tickets will have to go through security just like passengers. They will be checked with metal detectors and may have to empty their pockets and handbags and take off their shoes.

"I think you'd find most Americans would agree and go along with this idea," said Brian Muth of Reynoldsville.

Muth and his wife are hosting an exchange student from Ecuador, Lorena Lopez. On Tuesday, Sharon Muth bid a tearful farewell, on this side of security, to the girl's parents after they paid a short visit.

And Muth cried again when she thought of bringing Lorena back to the airport in June, knowing the teen might be alone when she boards her flight home.

"Lorena's just become part of our family," she said, dabbing tears with a tissue.

Officials with the federal Transportation Security Administration met recently with Pittsburgh officials and expect to review a rough draft of the plan later this spring. It could take effect by summer if approved by the Homeland Security Department, Jenny said.

Certain issues still need to be worked out, such as how to prevent the people without tickets from holding up passengers during peak travel times.

"There's a customer service benefit to be had here, but at the end of the day, the security of the flying public at the Pittsburgh airport is going to come before anything else," said Ann Davis, TSA's Northeast regional spokeswoman. "And I think passengers appreciate that."

In the security crackdown in the weeks after Sept. 11, the Federal Aviation Administration said the nation's airports may no longer allow people without tickets past security checkpoints. It was among several security measures, some of which have since been relaxed, such as a ban on curbside pickups and the parking of cars close to terminals.

In certain hardship cases - say, if an airline passenger is disabled, cannot speak English or is a child - a friend or family member can get a pass to go through security and accompany the traveler.

At the Pittsburgh airport, for example, Lorena Lopez accompanied her parents Tuesday because they do not speak English. And Jackie Crusan was allowed to go through security with her friend, Devin Seeger, because he broke both his legs while performing in a dirt bike show in Pennsylvania.

And in January, the TSA started allowing military families to accompany soldiers to airline gates.

But everybody else still says their goodbyes on this side of the security apparatus, which experts say discourages some people from traveling and keeps well-wishers from spending more money in the nation's airports.

One industry expert said the Pittsburgh plan makes sense because airports need all the revenue they can find.

If the airport can make more money from merchant leases and parking fees, it can cut the rates airlines are charged to use the terminal, said Stephen Van Beek of the Airport Councils International-North America, a trade group.

That revenue is especially important in Pittsburgh, where US Airways, which controls about 80 percent of the gates, has been threatening to leave because of higher-than-average gate fees.

The Pittsburgh airport has a genuine shopping mall, Airmall, inside the main terminal, with 100 stores and restaurants - not just concession stands and souvenir shops, but brand-name establishments with the kind of prices found at an ordinary shopping center.

Mark Knight, regional manager for Airmall operator BAA USA Inc., said business is down about 12 percent in the past year. He said nearly half of that that is due to the security rule, while the rest is attributable to a drop in passengers caused by US Airways, which is cutting flights because of the gate fees.

"In this economy that other 4 or 5 percent could mean the difference between success and failure" for an Airmall business, Knight said.

[dead]

Feds May Relax Post-Sept. 11 Airport-Security Rule, Beginning With Pittsburgh

That’s cool. Nobody like Pittsburgh all that much anyway.

I assume Cleveland or Gary Indiana are up next.

[martin_fierro]

	It's a 'Burgh Thing.TM
Send FReepmail if you want on/off BPT list
Learn Pittsburghese!

[RightWhale]

Nobody like Pittsburgh all that much anyway.

Incoming!

Anyway, the airport is nowhere near Pittsburgh.

[Always Right]

I assume Cleveland or Gary Indiana are up next.

Except Gary doesn't have a major airport.

[Glenn]

Nobody like Pittsburgh all that much anyway.

You ought not to say things like that when the NRA is in town.

[Veggie Todd]

I'm totally against this. The time needed to get through security has finally been shortened and now they want to send a bunch of people through that don't really have to go through. What difference does it make if you say goodbye at security or at the gate - you're still saying goodbye. This is just gonna screw up the process again and make it take forever to get cleared.

[Glenn]

What difference does it make if you say goodbye at security or at the gate

You just don't understand.

Pittsburgh, in a forward looking but doomed vision, assembled a mall inside the security gates. Prices in the airport were mandated not to exceed the price in any other retail outlet for the shop keepers inside. (No highway robbery of a captive audience!).

9/11 wrecked all that and now people would like a bit of common sense to return. I see nothing wrong with that.

[Labyrinthos]

Yep, I flew four times over the last two weeks and clearing security is a breeze if you know the routine. Now we're going to bog down security with people who aren't actually flying all so they can have the convience of clinging to their loved ones until the very last minute and to shop at an overpriced shopping mall in the secure area. Query: Let's supposed that Mohammad is on a do no fly list which effectively preventshim from buying a ticket. His friend named John buys the ticket and passes security by flashing a photo ID that matches the name on the ticket. Mohammad also enters the secure area to say good-bye to his grandmother. John gives Mohommad his ticket and Mohammad, who is not supposed to fly, is now on board. Stupid.

[Cboldt]

Pitts security is pretty quick. Let it play out, it's the nicest airport in the US, and ought to be allowed to attempt profitable operation. JMHO.

[MadelineZapeezda]

Good news to my little ones. They love to ride the train when we pick up visiting friends. They'll be thrilled.

[Badray]

I'm told that the trucks delivering goods to these stores do not pass thru security.

If true, that means that any weapon can just be delivered to one of the stores. Even if not true, these stores have things like scissors and box cutters as part of the normal working tools in any business.

You can react any way that you choose to this info. Some will see it as bad news that the potential exists. I see it as good news that the risk isn't that severe or an attempt to use this flaw in the system would have already ocurred.