For Immediate Release

August 16, 2004

TSA AIRPORT SCREENERS HANDLING
SUMMER PASSENGER VOLUME AT SEA-TAC

TACOMA, WA – New baggage screeners quickly hired by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) this summer, aided by temporarily-assigned staff from other airports in the agency's western region, appear to be meeting the demands of the summer travel season at Sea-Tac Airport, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said Monday. 

            The congressman worked with TSA officials and Sea-Tac executives in June to secure approval for the hiring of up to 81 new baggage screeners to avert long delays for travelers, as passenger volume has increased by almost nine percent this year at the airport.  As of today, Rep. Dicks said, 35-to-40 of the permanent security personnel have been hired, and they are being supplemented by 46 other TSA screening staff assigned to Sea-Tac from other airports within the western region and from TSA's mobile screening force in order to handle the summer travel season.

            Rep. Dicks said he was informed by TSA officials at Sea-Tac today that the waiting times at baggage screening stations had been reduced substantially from the 45-minute delays that had been experienced in early summer.  The temporary screeners will be available at Sea-Tac at least through the Labor Day holiday, he said, when more of the permanent screeners will have been hired and trained. 

            The congressman commended the responsiveness of the Transportation Security Administration for addressing the urgency of Sea-Tac airport's situation this year.  TSA is also experimenting with other strategies for streamlining the passenger security screening process around the nation, including its "Registered Traveler" pilot project designed for frequent travelers who submit personal data and biometric information in return for faster clearance.   The Registered Traveler program is being tested this summer at five U.S. airports -- though not at Sea-Tac -- in order to gauge its effectiveness and to determine whether there would be acceptance among the traveling public.

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