SECURITY Airport plans major change

A centralized security checkpoint in one terminal is a factor in the plan.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Federal security officials are considering a first-in-the-nation pilot program to let nonticketed people through security at Pittsburgh International Airport for the first time since the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
Airport officials and western Pennsylvania's congressional delegation have pushed for the change for two years, which could become a model for other airports if it is approved, said JoAnn Jenny, spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which runs the airport.
"This is new; this is exciting because we're basically rewriting the security directives in order to allow nonticketed passengers to go through security," Jenny said.
Two factors make Pittsburgh's airport a strong candidate for such an experiment, Jenny said. The airport has a centralized security checkpoint in one terminal, unlike some airports. It also has an Airmall, a series of 100 shops and restaurants inside the main terminal, which only ticketed passengers have been able to patronize since security was tightened after Sept. 11, 2001.
Transportation Security Administration officials confirmed Friday that they've met recently to discuss the plan with Pittsburgh officials and expect to review it soon. Airport officials will submit a rough draft later this spring, which, if approved by Deputy Homeland Security Secretary James Loy, could take effect by summer, Jenny said.
One industry expert said the plan makes sense because airports are struggling to find all the nonairline income they can and because such a program will let the TSA answer critics who say the agency has sacrificed customer service for security.
Financial benefit
"One of the most important reasons is it could accrue a financial benefit back to the airport and its users," said Stephen Van Beek, executive vice president of policy for the Airport Councils International-North America, a Washington, D.C.-based trade association.
If the airport can make more money from merchant leases and parking fees, that could cut the rates airlines are charged to fly out of the airport, Van Beek said.
Those fees are 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 airline and county officials have been negotiating to cut the airport's debt -- which is paid down with airline gate fees -- by $500 million to keep the US Airways hub there.
While TSA officials understand the economic and customer service factors, the plan will only be approved if security isn't compromised.
"These are all issues that need to be worked out between the airport and TSA," said Ann Davis, TSA's northeast regional spokeswoman.
"There's 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. And I think passengers appreciate that."
The TSA in January loosened restrictions for families of military personnel, letting them accompany soldiers to airline gates.
Because Pittsburgh is a hub and has large banks of flights at certain times of the day, the pilot program may be designed to let nonticketed people through only at off-peak times, Jenny said.