Denver Airport warns security wait times could double because of screener cuts DENVER (AP) ? John Malinowski said he feels the cuts in the number of passenger and baggage screeners announced this week for airports nationwide won't affect safety, just travelers' patience. "It will just cause an inconvenience," Malinowski said as he waited for a family member to arrive at Denver International Airport Thursday. "They'll still have to check every passenger and every item." Denver and Colorado Springs Municipal Airport will lose 233 passenger and baggage screeners in one of the first cutbacks in airport security since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Transportation Security Administration announced. The cuts could double the time passengers must wait in security lines at Denver to about 10 minutes. Denver International Airport will cut 172 of its 1,018 screeners while Colorado Springs Municipal Airport will lose up to 61 of its 153 screeners under the plans. The cuts come as the TSA, created after the 2001 terrorist attacks to improve airport safety, is eliminating 6,000 screeners across the country amid complaints of overstaffing by Congress. The cuts are the first at Denver's airport since Sept. 11. U.S. airports had 19,000 screeners at the time of the terrorist attacks, compared with the 55,600 on staff as of March 31. Stephen McHale, TSA's deputy administrator in Washington, D.C., said there wasn't enough time to determine staffing levels right after the attacks. "We had to get people out here. We had to get people into the airports," he said. The cuts across the country will save $32 million this year and $288 million next year. Most of the cuts will be through attrition, which is estimated at 700 jobs a month nationwide. Some workers might be laid off based on performance, not seniority, which eased the worries of some screeners. "If you're doing your job and you're proficient, you'll be fine," said Kevin Harris, a former semiconductor manufacturing supervisor who was laid off last year and became a screener in November. Administration officials hope to complete the downsizing by Sept. 30. U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., questioned the wisdom of cutting the number screeners. "Just as the TSA appears to feel that it overreacted by hiring too many airport security screeners when the agency was created, I am concerned that it may be overreacting again by reducing its staff just as we enter the peak travel season," she said. "The security of air travel is too important to be a victim of poor budget planning." McHale said other changes besides more screeners put in place after the attacks work together to ensure secure flights. Those changes include the reinforcement of cockpit doors, the addition of bomb detection machines and the presence of air marshals. "Taken together, we believe we can provide the highest level of security," he said. Meanwhile, the number of screeners at some of Colorado's smaller airports will increase. The screening force at Eagle County, near Vail, will more than double from 11 to 28, while at Aspen Pitkin County airport the number will jump from 14 to 34. Other airports gaining screeners include Pueblo Memorial Airport, Montrose County Airport and the Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.pscutt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************