Airports More Secure, Not Slower

RDU officials said the airport did not experience significant travel delays because of the increased security.

Theresa Damiano, RDU director of customer service and organizational support, said the airport has complied with tougher security regulations but still has more work to do.

"I think all measures that have been taken since September 11 are making things better," she said. "But there are still actions to be implemented."

Damiano said the four options airlines have to increase security are the use of bomb sniffing dogs, hand searches, X-ray machines and positive bag match.

Positive bag match -- matching checked baggage to a passenger on the aircraft -- is the most common and only method the federal government is requiring.

The new regulations stem from aviation security legislation signed by President Bush about two months ago.

Damiano said RDU has increased random bag searching to supplement positive bag match.

But an RDU employee who wished to remain anonymous said the airport has become less congested over time, despite the increased security measures.

"After the attacks, there were lines out the door," the employee said. "Now things are slowly returning to normal."

The employee added that everything was normal during the weekend because the airport has only slightly increased security. "There is no way possible to check every bag," the employee said. "The airport is more worried with making people happy rather than increasing the security."

While the airport is in compliance with federal regulations, changes will continue to be made.

RDU has one bomb sniffing dog but plans to get two more to further increase security.

All checked baggage will be scanned by X-ray machines by the end of the year.

Bur X-ray machines are expensive, costing upward of $1 million, and might further slow down airport security measures.

Security measures could further increase in the future because control of airport security will be handed over to the federal government Feb. 17.

While RDU did not see additional delays because of the new security measures, other airports saw somewhat longer lines.

"It was a lot more difficult to get through than normal," passenger Eric Weren said about delays at Newark International Airport.

"We were delayed about 20 minutes because someone had to have their bag taken off the plane," Weren said.

Newark was not the only airport experiencing delays.

"I just came from LAX in L.A.," said passenger Mike Ricker, a California resident. "The lines are much longer than normal."

Ricker said that the security measures he saw were not new.

"It's been the same since September 11," he said. "Just today, the lines were a lot longer and slower."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.