Airport closings to be reined in By Blake Morrison, USA TODAY Transportation officials in Washington have stripped security managers at=20 about 180 airports of the power to clear concourses or stop flights=20 themselves when security is breached, memos obtained by USA TODAY show.=20 Although the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects the=20 change to result in fewer evacuations and flight delays, critics say the=20 new procedures put convenience ahead of security. The procedures, outlined= =20 in TSA memos dated May 23, call for airport security managers to obtain=20 permission from their supervisors =97 many of whom are located miles from= the=20 airports =97 before evacuating concourses. The airport security managers= also=20 are to talk with airlines and local law enforcement before stopping flights= =20 from taking off. Managers are urged to balance security "against the strain that it can=20 cause on the airport and airline operating systems." Critics say the new approach represents a retreat from Transportation=20 Secretary Norman Mineta's "zero tolerance" policy toward security breaches.= =20 In January, Mineta promised "swift and immediate action to protect=20 travelers against any and all breaches of security." Forcing authorities to= =20 contact their bosses for permission to evacuate or stop a jet from taking=20 off is neither swift nor immediate, they say. "It's definitely a move backwards," says Billie Vincent, former security=20 director for the Federal Aviation Administration. "It is a back-off of the= =20 zero-tolerance policy." TSA officials dispute the characterization. "We=20 wanted to ensure that they consider the full range of options before=20 evacuating," TSA spokeswoman Mari Eder says. "TSA just wants senior=20 management involved in making these decisions." Since the TSA takeover of=20 aviation security Feb. 17, discoveries of guns, knives and other potential= =20 weapons on passengers who had passed security checkpoints have prompted=20 evacuations at 124 airports and resulted in 631 flights being called back=20 to terminals so that passengers can be searched again. The policy of=20 getting approval before evacuating terminals and recalling aircraft looks=20 to be temporary. By the end of the year, many of the security managers in=20 charge at airports =97 TSA calls them "interim federal security=20 representatives" =97 will be replaced by federal security directors. The=20 directors will function like airport police chiefs and have the power to=20 order evacuations, the TSA says. Directors have been hired at 42 airports. In the memos outlining the new policy, the TSA acknowledges that potential= =20 weapons "continue to stream into the system." Statistics obtained by USA=20 TODAY show that workers who screen passengers and carry-on bags have seized= =20 an average of 4,500 more knives or other banned items daily during May and= =20 June than they did in February and March. "But not every incident requires the evacuation of a concourse or the=20 rescreening of passengers," one of the memos cautions. "That=20 one-size-fits-all approach will not work in an aviation system that=20 enplanes nearly 500,000 passengers a day without grinding it to a halt." It= =20 says tight security "cannot detract from the free movement of people and=20 cargo." Pat Friend, head of the largest flight attendants' union, calls it= =20 "just one more change for convenience over security." "Here's the practical= =20 reality," says Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants:=20 "How do you stop the system while you're getting permission to secure it?" The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Solo) http://www.solobev.com/ (Solo Beverages) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************