Cortez airport reopens with tightened security

Cortez airport reopens with tightened security

Sept 15, 2001

HEAVY EQUIPMENT protects the Cortez Municipal Airport from potential bomb blasts. The heightened security is a result of FAA requirements issued in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the East Coast Tuesday.

By Jim Mimiaga
Journal Staff Writer

Cortez Municipal Airport was given the green light by the Federal Aviation Administration Thursday to resume service, but with vastly stricter security measures.

As a result of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks that utilized commercial airlines as weapons against targets in Washington, D.C., and New York City, airport check-in procedures nationwide have changed.

At the Cortez airport, police officers will be stationed at the terminal and lobby to monitor activity, help check baggage and give pat-downs. Also, for the time being, travelers with vehicles are being directed to a parking area north of the airport.

No parking is allowed in the designated lot, and airport officials are requiring that family or friends of those who have vehicles in the regular lot have them removed or face towing.

"Check-in has slowed significantly, so expect delays beyond our control; we’re on a flight-by-flight basis," said Russ Machen, airport assistant manager. "Be prepared for extensive luggage checks and even pat-downs of persons."

People expecting to fly should call in two hours before departure time.

The FAA still has all of the nation’s airports at Level 4 security, prompting restricted passenger drop-off, stationed officers and limited vehicle presence near terminals. Anything that could be construed as a possible weapon has to be checked with luggage or left behind. Pocket knives, which used to be allowed for carry-on, are banned.

Larger airports are now restricting terminals to passengers only. But that is not the case in Cortez, because the airport lobby is the terminal. "You can still see passengers off," Machen said.

Because the Cortez airport does not have 300 feet of curbside to cordon off as required by the FAA for a "blast barrier," local officials were instructed to park heavy construction equipment directly in front of the building instead.

While flights were allowed to resume Thursday, none went out as of press time because of the limited access allowed into and out of Denver International Airport, said a representative of Great Lakes Aviation, the airline carrier for Cortez.

All commercial flights on Thursday and Friday morning were canceled, said Machen, although one plane did fly out with a medical patient.

"Nobody is flying out steadily because the nation’s airports, including DIA, are not geared up yet to implement all the new procedures," Machen said.

Great Lakes planes probably have not been able to leave DIA to resume scheduled flights due to the confusion, speculated Glenn Wells of Classic Affordable Travel in Cortez. Normally, Great Lakes flies three daily round-trip flights to DIA from Cortez.

Wells expected the kinks to be worked out by as early as Monday, barring any new developments. He said many passengers have been rebooking flights, but that new reservations were very low as a result of the attacks and subsequent air-travel crack-down.

"There have been travelers from here stranded in D.C. and Denver that will be flying home," he said. "A lot of meetings were missed or canceled, so those are beginning to get rebooked."

The Durango-La Plata County airport is also open under the same restrictions and unpredictability. DIA has limited service, as it first must resume flights that were diverted to it, and it takes time to reposition planes to handle full schedules. United officials said a reduced schedule will continue through the weekend.