DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Screeners scrutinized a monitor for a baggage X-ray machine. The federal Transportation Security Administration began staffing checkpoints at the Honolulu Airport yesterday.

Federal employees
begin taking over
security at airport

Travelers seem most concerned
with the quality of security

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By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

Federal employees began taking over security screening responsibilities at Honolulu Airport yesterday.

They are part of the federal Transportation Security Administration, which has a Nov. 19 deadline to replace all private screeners with federal employees at the nation's 426 airports.

Some of the supervisors, however, have been on the job since April.

Jill Masunaga is one of 17 TSA employees supervising the on-the-job training of the first batch of screeners assigned to the Honolulu Airport. She previously trained TSA screeners at airports in Baltimore, Louisville, Ky., Tampa, Fla., Knoxville, Tenn., and Omaha, Neb.

"We have been going around the country training local screeners, getting that airport open, and then we move on," Masunaga said.

"We've been working around the clock to open all of these airports. And most of us have been working without days off around the country to meet the deadline," she said.

Masunaga's previous job was in customer service for United Airlines. She lost her job last November in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Paul Meyer was with Masunaga at Baltimore, Louisville and Tampa, then moved on to Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Long Island, N.Y. His previous job was security director for Island Air.

Meyer, Masunaga and at least half of the training team will remain in Hawaii as supervisors.

The 58 screeners undergoing on-the-job training took over Check Point No. 5 at the international terminal from employees of International Total Services at 4:30 a.m. yesterday. Travelers and airport users did not notice the change nor did they care.

"What's the difference if they're hired by the federal (private contractors) or if they are federal (employees), as long as it doesn't affect the cost of travel," said Johnnie Williams who returned to Sacramento yesterday.

"As long as they do the job," said Tom Fountain who returned to San Francisco with his wife Ardell Fountain yesterday.

"Security is the No. 1 thing. So federal or private, it doesn't matter."

Lei greeter Lysa Duarte is more concerned with the speed at which she can get through the checkpoints "because we're in and out of here 50 million times a day, whether the process is quicker or we're being held back longer because the process over here is slower."