Salt Lake City International Airport's new federal security director says he wants to make sure passengers wait no longer than 10 minutes in screening checkpoints.
"Happy people are those who don't have to wait in line and we understand that," Earl Morris told reporters during a Monday morning news conference at the airport. Morris also announced that new screeners from the Transportation Safety Administration will be in place in Salt Lake City and four other commercial airports around the state of Utah by Sept. 16.
The federally employed screeners must meet minimum requirements, which include being a U.S. citizen, fluent in English, holding at least a high school diploma and passing a criminal background check. The more than 900 current screeners who work for a private subcontractor will have the opportunity to reapply for the new screening jobs if they can pass the minimum requirements.
As part of their plan to increase efficiency at screening checkpoints, airport officials say they plan to install more checkpoints in terminals as part of the airport's expansion plans. Security checkpoints could also be moved to different locations to accommodate more passengers, airport Executive Director Timothy Campbell said.
"Our goal is to not only have the most secure airport in the nation . . . but the most efficient," Morris said.
Many have blamed concerns over security and delays at screening points with decreased travel numbers around the country.
Revenue passenger miles continue to drop this summer, according to statistics on the Air Transport Association's Web site. Nationwide, June revenue figures for the airlines were down 8 percent from last year. The number of people boarding planes also dropped 10 percent from last June to this June.
Salt Lake City International Airport's travel numbers are down 4 percent over the previous year, Campbell said.
"The U.S. airline industry made little progress toward economic recovery in June. Air travel remains persistently below last year's levels," Air Transport Association chief economist David Swierenga said in a statement released by the association. "The recent decline in U.S. consumer confidence and lingering frustration with the airport security experience is contributing to stagnation in air travel growth."
Morris said that with the new screeners in place by Sept. 16, passengers should get through checkpoints faster.
Morris lauded Salt Lake City for being the first airport to screen 100 percent of checked baggage. Much of that is due to the intense security preparations put in place for the Olympics.
"We've been at 100 percent since mid-January," Randy Berg, director of airport operations in Salt Lake City, said during a June interview. Airport officials from cities such as Los Angeles and San Jose, Calif., have visited Salt Lake City to observe the security system, Berg said.
Salt Lake City also had the dubious honor of being first in the nation to indict airport workers for lying on their job applications. As deputy commissioner of public safety, Morris oversaw last December's roundup of 271 workers accused of falsifying employment documents.
The sweep, which led to the firings and indictments of many undocumented immigrants, "was unfortunate for some of the people involved. But I think it had to happen" to ensure security at the airport, Morris said. Since the Salt Lake raid, hundreds of workers have been arrested on similar charges in Phoenix, San Francisco, Las Vegas and the three airports serving Washington, D.C.
Morris, a 23-year veteran of law enforcement, resigned as deputy commissioner for the Utah Department of Public Safety in June to become the airport's federal security director. He assumed his new position July 15.
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