The dawning of a new year today brings a stepped-up effort to guard against terrorism in the skies.
As revelers cheered at the stroke of midnight, a federal law went into effect mandating that all checked baggage passing through the country's commercial airports be screened for explosives.
Starting today, passengers going through the Portland International Jetport will have to bring checked bags from the ticket counter to one of several roped-off areas in the lobby for screening.
The change is expected to dramatically improve airport security, considering that less than 5 percent of all baggage was checked before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
At the same time, it has prompted fears of long lines. And at the jetport, some employees wondered whether the lobby would grow too congested with people waiting to drop off their bags.
It is too early to know how smoothly the new system will run, but jetport manager Jeff Schultes said he is confident that passengers would not see any delays.
"I've been working with the (local representatives of the Transportation Security Administration) for the last couple of weeks," Schultes said on Tuesday. "What they have finally worked out is not going to cause any problems for the passengers."
He said passengers should lose no more than 30 seconds dropping off bags. From there, passengers will be able to immediately proceed to the boarding area, he said.
The bags may go through one of two Explosives-Detection System units - 9,000-pound machines sized like minivans that screen items on a conveyor belt, using CAT-scan technology.
Or they may be subjected to one of 15 smaller Explosive-Trace Detection machines. Federal screening personnel take swabs from bags that are then submitted to the ETDs for near-immediate detection of chemical compounds.
Other methods are available - such as bomb-sniffing dogs, hand searches and positive bag matching, a system in which airlines make sure that each bag has a corresponding passenger. But at the jetport, whose size may not need such stop-gap measures, Schultes said the machines, purchased by the federal government, will be used most often.
To shorten the screening process, the TSA asks passengers to leave bags unlocked and to put personal belongings in clear, plastic bags to reduce the chances of handling by a screener. More tips are listed at www.TSATravelTips.us.
Schultes also said that people should arrive two hours before their flight.
"They can drop off their bags and run upstairs. But the bags have to go through the proper searches and get loaded onto the airplane."
There were no long lines during trial runs with jetport passengers on New Year's Eve, one of the quieter travel days of the year. But passengers said screeners usually had them wait several minutes while their bags were inspected. It was not clear Tuesday whether this was to be a standard request, or an attempt to acquaint passengers with the new security system, as screeners were not allowed to comment.
Nevertheless, passengers said any wait was a small price to pay for extra security.
"We have to do everything we can to protect our country against a disaster like Sept. 11," said George Purgavie, a sports ethics professor at Bates College.
"I don't mind this at all," said Janet Matlock, a sales representative from Birmingham, Ala., while watching a screener swab her bags.
Unlike hub airports, which have the space to put machines in restricted areas, out of the passengers' sight, the jetport had no choice but to put the bomb-detection machines in the lobby, where they whirr constantly.
"It may not be the prettiest solution, having everything in the lobby, but the bottom line is to screen those bags per congressional order," TSA spokeswoman Suzanne Luber said.
Pat Noonan, a customer service representative at United Express, said things went well in trial runs Tuesday afternoon. But she worried about upcoming, high-volume days when there is much more foot traffic.
"I can't even imagine what it's going to look like in the summertime," she said.
The changes do not affect carry-on bags, which will go through X-ray machines and random searches as usual.
Staff Writer Josie Huang can be contacted at 791-6364 or at:
jhuang@pressherald.com
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