Airport concerns about screening deadline dismissed

The Bush administration is dismissing a call by airport officials to reconsider a Dec. 31 deadline for mandatory screening of all checked baggage, reports the Associated Press.

Officials of 39 airports wrote Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta last week, asking him to pressure Congress to delay the deadline.

"It's just not going to work unless we slow down and do it right," said Larry Cox, CEO of the airport in Memphis, Tenn.

The letter warned of "harried installations" of explosives-detection machines in airports that have little space for new equipment.

Mineta has maintained that while it will be difficult, several types of machines can be in place before 2003 to check approximately 1 billion bags a year for explosives.

Florida Republican John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, said Congress probably will reconsider the issue after the fall election.