usmc4669
04-21-04, 04:12 PM
(PITTSBURGH) Pittsburgh International could become the first major airport in the United States to abandon the post-Sept 11 rule that only allows ticketed passengers past security checkpoints. Federal security officials are considering allowing people to accompany friends and relatives to departure gates.
Airport officials and a congressional delegation from Western Pennsylvania have pushed for two years for the change for reasons of money and passenger convenience. Pittsburgh could become a model for other airports. 'This is new, this is exciting, because we're basically rewriting the security directives in order to allow non-ticketed passengers to go through security,' said JoAnn Jenny, spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which runs the airport.
Pittsburgh is a strong candidate for the experiment for two reasons. It has a centralised security checkpoint in one terminal. It also has a full-scale shopping mall whose business has suffered because it is reachable only by ticketed passengers. If the change is approved, people without tickets will have to go through security just like passengers. They will be checked with metal detectors and may have to empty their pockets and handbags and take off their shoes.
Officials with the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) met Pittsburgh officials recently and expect to review a rough draft of the plan later this spring. It could take effect by summer if approved by the Homeland Security Department, Ms Jenny said. Certain issues still need to be worked out, such as how to prevent the people without tickets from holding up passengers during peak travel times. - AP
Airport officials and a congressional delegation from Western Pennsylvania have pushed for two years for the change for reasons of money and passenger convenience. Pittsburgh could become a model for other airports. 'This is new, this is exciting, because we're basically rewriting the security directives in order to allow non-ticketed passengers to go through security,' said JoAnn Jenny, spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which runs the airport.
Pittsburgh is a strong candidate for the experiment for two reasons. It has a centralised security checkpoint in one terminal. It also has a full-scale shopping mall whose business has suffered because it is reachable only by ticketed passengers. If the change is approved, people without tickets will have to go through security just like passengers. They will be checked with metal detectors and may have to empty their pockets and handbags and take off their shoes.
Officials with the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) met Pittsburgh officials recently and expect to review a rough draft of the plan later this spring. It could take effect by summer if approved by the Homeland Security Department, Ms Jenny said. Certain issues still need to be worked out, such as how to prevent the people without tickets from holding up passengers during peak travel times. - AP