Consensus likely on Airlines Bill

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, NOV. 16. After weeks of bickering between Republicans and Democrats, the Congress is finally on the verge of passing the Airline Security Bill that is designed not only to increase security measures at airports but give a boost to the airline industry on the eve of the holiday season.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are expected to pass the Bill today. Lawmakers are hoping to have this measure out of the way before leaving for the Thanksgiving holidays. The President, Mr. George W Bush, who has been urging members of Congress to send an Airline Security Bill at the earliest to the White House for signature, applauded the compromise hammered out at a Conference Committee saying that Congress was making airline travel ``safer for the American people''.

Under the new scheme of things, screening at airports will be placed under federal control. The new law will allow inspection of all checked bags with 100 per cent results by the end of 2002; increased use of air marshals and tightening of law enforcement at all airports; fortified cockpit doors and better co-ordination between the Transportation Department and Enforcement Agencies. All this comes at a price - passengers will have to pay between $2.50 and $5. Major airlines in this country have been reeling in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks. The $15 billion bailout package was seen as being not sufficient to help an industry in trouble. Now with the holiday season round the corner the airlines were desperately looking at ways to instill confidence in the travelling public. The recent crash of an American Airlines plane in New York gave another knock to the industry's image.

The diametrically different views of the Senate and the House had held up the Airlines Security Bill. By a 100 to 0 vote the Senate voted to federalise the screening workforce of 28,000. In the House, Democrats supported the move and the Republicans insisted that the private sector be retained for the purpose. The compromise handled by Senator Trent Lott calls for a stipulation that within a year, airport screening will be under federal control and this system will be in place for three years. During this period, five airports will take part in a pilot study to test various screening methods. At the end of the period, airports that meet the tough federal guidelines will be able to opt out of the federal worker programme.

One of the important aspects of the Airline Security Bill is about checked luggage. Within sixty days, legislation requires the maximisation of all checked baggages and the target of inspecting all bags by the end of 2002. At a Congressional hearing, officials said less than ten per cent of all checked bags at American airports were screened for explosives.

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Section  : International
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