Airports plan for The federal government will hire more than 600 airport security personnel to safeguard Hawaii's airports as part of a yearlong transition to federalization, a Federal Aviation Administration official said yesterday.
security transition
More than 600 hires
will fill new federal posts
at isle facilitiesBy Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.com"We're saying for a baggage screener the average pay is going to be approximately $25,000 to $30,000 (a year) with full federal privileges," including a 25 percent living allowance, said Tweet Coleman, FAA Pacific representative.
Screeners in Hawaii, employed by private companies, reportedly earn $16,000 to $18,000 a year.
Nationwide, about 28,000 airport baggage screeners will be hired within a year as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act signed into law Monday by President Bush.
The law puts the federal government in charge of airport security and will cost an estimated $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion.
Passengers, in turn, will be charged a minimum of $2.50 to a maximum of $5 per one-way trip.
Because the law is so new, many things remain unclear, including whether airlines would determine the amount of the surcharge, Coleman said.
"The rule is out. Now we have to develop a plan to meet the rule," she said.
In Hawaii there are about 600 private-sector workers now handling airport security. Those wishing to continue in their security roles must apply for the federal posts, Coleman said.
"Even if you have prior experience, you're going to have to go through the interview process," Coleman said.
New requirements mandate that screeners be U.S. citizens, speak English and have a high school diploma.
The citizenship requirement is significant because "in many cases, like some airports in the mainland, 70 percent (of screeners) aren't U.S. citizens," she said.
Coleman said she did not have the numbers of non-U.S. citizens who may be affected locally, but she did say that "some people in Hawaii will lose their jobs because of that."
Coleman said the law gives the federal government a chance to prove it can do a better job than private companies.
"It's going to really be performance-based," she said.
Airports may opt out of the federal program after three years and let private companies provide security through federal contracts.
The law also mandates that by Dec. 31, 2002, passengers and baggage must be screened by an explosives detection system. Honolulu Airport already operates seven such machines at the purchase cost of $1.2 million each, Coleman said, adding that more will probably not be needed. For smaller airports that do not get the machines, she said, "they must do a manual search of every bag."
Coleman said airports may use federal Airport Improvement Program funds to pay for some of the added security expenses.
She said the government is authorized to reimburse airports a total of $1.5 billion over fiscal years 2002 and 2003.
Despite the far-reaching bill, which also requires reinforcing of cockpit doors, Coleman said the impact on travelers will be minimal.
"For the routine traveler, they probably won't even notice any of these new measures in place, but they will be there," she said. Longer lines should not be a problem, she said, because "the whole process time is getting shorter because we're realizing what we need to do."
At the same time, via online applications, the government is recruiting more than 14,000 federal air marshals, or plainclothes officials who handle criminal incidents aboard U.S. airplanes.
Since the FAA renewed its recruiting of air marshals after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, more than 800 people in Hawaii have responded, Coleman said. The status of those applications may be checked online at jobs.faa.gov/ssl/famappstatus.asp.
It was not known yesterday whether any of the air marshals would be based in Hawaii as they have been in the past.
Coleman said the FAA hopes to post announcements for airport security positions by the end of the year at jobs.faa.gov.
