Airports may get flexibility on security deadlines

Facing a financial tailspin, the aviation industry is stepping up pressure on Congress to extend year-end deadlines for increasing security at the nation's airports.

In a letter sent Friday to every senator, 133 of the nation's 429 airport directors called a Dec. 31 deadline to install explosive-detection equipment "arbitrary," adding that most airports can't meet it without "serious implications to security, customer service, airport facilities, passengers' willingness to travel and, ultimately, the national economy."

The Transportation Security Administration has a congressional mandate to ensure that all checked luggage is screened for explosives starting Dec. 31. The airport directors did not specify a new deadline, but are seeking leeway for airports that will have trouble meeting the goal. In an interview with Government Executive last month, TSA Acting Administrator James Loy said about 20 airports will have trouble meeting the deadline. Even if airports meet the deadline, there is concern that the new security measures will result in long lines and greatly disrupt customer service. The airport directors said they want more time to develop "individualized airport security plans and make massive infrastructure adjustments."

Before the August recess, the House voted 217-211 to move the deadline back one year. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., has proposed similar legislation in the Senate. But several influential Democrats oppose a blanket extension.

"We are a nation at war and we are trying to address a known vulnerability," said Andy Davis, spokesman for Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees TSA. "We know it is a daunting task, but that pales in comparison to having something terrible happen. To write off the deadlines this year just makes it easier to keep writing them off in the coming years."

Senior leaders at TSA share that concern. While agency officials have remained silent on the proposals pending before Congress, one senior official said he is concerned about a domino effect. If Congress extended the deadline now, it would open the floodgates on other requirements or result in a push for further delays down the road, he said.

Instead, the official said, TSA would like the authority to enter into negotiated agreements with airports that can't meet the year-end deadline. Such agreements would set out timelines for the airports to comply with the law. Hollings also favors a case-by-case approach, Davis said.