El Al Wants To Do Own Baggage Screening At Newark

[question everything]

El Al Wants To Do Own Baggage Screening At Newark

AP

Newark, NJ, May 11, 2006 - U.S. transportation security officials are considering a request by Israeli airline El Al to do its own baggage screening at Newark Liberty International Airport something the airline already does at four other major U.S. airports.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reported in Thursday's newspapers that the U.S. Transportation Security Administration has quietly permitted El Al to do its own screening of baggage destined to be put aboard its flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Los Angeles International, Miami International and O'Hare International in Chicago.

No other airline has such an arrangement with U.S. officials, authorities acknowledged. At the four other airports, El Al has installed its own security software at bomb detection machines, which authorities said is more sensitive than that used by American carriers.

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Critics of the TSA say the El Al request is an embarrassing indictment of U.S. safety precautions after the Sept. 11th attacks. "El Al knows our security isn't worth a hoot," said Michael Boyd, an aviation industry consultant and longtime TSA critic. "It's a heck of an indictment for the TSA when a foreign airline says they want to screen their own luggage. It says they don't trust us."

At Newark, El Al wants to use a room to screen checked bags that will be loaded onto the six flights that depart each week for Israel. The airline would increase the machines' sensitivity, triggering more alarms and hand searches of checked baggage, which its personnel would carry out.

(snip)

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=nation_world&id=4164777

[bullimiami]

1. if they want to be safe they had better.

[napi21]

2. Gee, maybe they can contract with El Al to do all the screening!

I'm SURE they do a better job than our TSA!

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. I thought El Al had done its own baggage screening since the 1970s

everywhere. Certainly it was doing it in the 1980s at Heathrow - as was the Jordanian airline, for that matter.

[Vidar]

4. I'm sure they'll do better than whatever we have.