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 hen
it comes to the question of airport security, what do 100 members
of the United States Senate know that Isaac Yeffet doesn't? The
Senate has unanimously approved an airport-security bill that would
fully federalize the nation's 28,000 baggage screeners. To Yeffet,
the former chief of security for the Israeli airline El Al, that's
a terrible idea. "It would be a big mistake," he says.
"Airlines should continue to hire private security companies,
and the federal government should write the procedures, should supervise
the performance of the airline security, and should test them to
make sure that security reaches the level we need to reach."
Yeffet points
out that that's the way it's done in Israel, known for the best
airport security in the world. It's also the way it's done in the
major airports of Europe, where security is far better than American
airports. And it's the way the Republican leadership in the House
would have it done in the United States. The president, too. "Many
European countries and Israel, as you know, contract out for some
of the services for security," White House chief of staff Andrew
Card said Sunday on NBC. "It is supervised by their government.
We would like to see our system supervised by our government but
give the secretary of Transportation the flexibility to find the
best solution to the problems rather than have one cooked up in
Congress that may not be the best solution."
But Card, in
the same interview, signaled that the White House is not willing
to fight on the issue. When asked what the president would do if
the Senate's full-federalization bill passed the House, Card said,
"I suspect that he wouldn't want to have to sign it, but he
would. He wants airline security."
To Yeffet,
a federal force just doesn't make sense. The best system, he says,
is one in which airlines are in charge of all aspects of their flights
— but under heavy federal scrutiny. "The airlines are
responsible for the operation of each flight they have, from A to
Z," he says. "They are responsible for the ticket office,
the cargo department, reservations, check-in, delivering the luggage
to the aircraft." Under federal supervision, the airlines would
train each worker to function in the security system and catch potential
threats as early as possible in the process from ticketing to boarding
the aircraft. If you take one part of that system and replace it
with federal workers, you have two agencies doing the work that
should be done by one.
That's not
to suggest that Yeffet thinks today's system, which relies on private
contractors, is in any way adequate to the task. "The problem
in this country is that we are looking to save money," he says.
"The airlines are looking for the security companies that offer
the low bid. But who are they hiring? Unqualified people."
In Yeffet's ideal system, the government would set very strict standards
of performance and constantly test the airlines' security systems.
It would be very different from what exists today, with many more
people working solely on security. "You must change the concept,"
he says. "You cannot allow a skycap to ask you security questions.
His job is to take your luggage. The ticket agent behind the counter
is busy assigning you a seat."
Another issue
involved in getting qualified screeners is being able to get rid
of unqualified screeners. That question — unanswered
in the Senate bill — was President Bush's concern in his radio
address Saturday. "The [House] bill allows the use of private
contractors, operating under tough federal standards on background
checks with law enforcement at every gate," the president said,
"to promote better screening services, and ensure that security
managers can move aggressively to discipline or fire employees who
fail to live up to the rigorous new standards."
To support
that argument, Republicans might point to a new study of federal
workers out today from the Brookings Institution. According to the
study, federal workers say that about one in four of their fellow
employees is a poor performer on the job. In addition, a significant
percentage of those surveyed say the government does not deal well
with workers who don't perform. Combined, those two statistics make
a powerful case against fully federalized baggage screeners.
Isaac Yeffet
understands the problem. "If the federal government takes over,
and they are responsible," he asks, "who will supervise
the federal government?"
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