Security at small airports questioned

Security at small airports questioned

October 16, 2001

DENVER (AP) — Some fear security at small airports may be the weak link in a system working to become safer after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"Obviously to me there has to be some kind of concern when you get a lot of commuter flights from smaller airports," said Denver International Airport spokesman Dan Melfi.

DIA officials worry about who is landing at their airport from the small regional airports. Passengers screened at those airports are not screened again at DIA.

But regional airport managers and some aviation officials said their screening is at least as good as DIA’s process.

"At these small airports, it’s Fred the retired cop who is doing it," aviation consultant Mike Boyd said. "You try to find security screeners in Newark, N.J., and, friend, you are at the bottom of the barrel."

A General Accounting Office report last year found that the turnover rate among screeners at DIA was 193 percent or the equivalent of changing the work force three times in one year. That was the sixth highest among the nation’s 19 largest airports.

On the surface, some FAA reports on security violations back Boyd and the regional airport managers.

Only the Eagle County Regional Airport had significant violations when airline security screeners failed to detect fake weapons in surprise FAA tests in the past few years.

Montrose Regional Airport manager Dave Miller said security officials are well aware that the facility is the entryway into the aviation system. It sent 2,300 flights to DIA last year.

"I think the attention given at these small airports is probably more thorough than ... the major hubs," Miller said.

Since 1990, Colorado airports have been cited for about 950 security infractions.