Dozing screener is fired

A nap at a security post at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has cost a new airport screener his job.

And the incident Sunday has renewed questions about the much-touted federal security force that began work at the airport in October.

The federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) notified the screener yesterday that he was fired for falling asleep at his post, said agency spokesman Brian Doyle. The screener's name was not released.

"We take this extremely seriously," Doyle said. "We can't mess around, and screeners know this."

The screener clocked in around 5:30 a.m. Sunday and was stationed at an exit lane. His job was to ensure no one bypassed the security checkpoint by sneaking onto the concourse through the exit.

But around 6, a fellow screener noticed the guard sleeping in his chair. Concourses were cleared, planes were delayed, and travelers had to be rescreened.

This is the second time a federal guard at an exit lane has been caught napping recently, Doyle said. The first one, in Miami, also lost his job. Both incidents brought questions about the new system, in which low-wage private security guards were replaced by federal workers who are held to more rigorous standards.

The new system still has flaws, sleeping on the job being just one of them, observers say. Although the federal screeners have intercepted nearly 1,000 firearms and 36,000 box cutters nationwide, prohibited items still slip through, according to several reports.

"On a scale of 10, we're probably a four," said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, a lobbying group that pushes for safety and efficiency improvements in the airline industry.

"Before Sept. 11, we were probably a two. It will probably take two or three years to get up to an eight. "

For example, Mitchell questions why federal screeners aren't required to stand at their posts instead of sitting. "I'd fall asleep sitting there, too," he said.

And he also wonders why there is no prohibition against federal screeners holding another job on the side. "I don't think President Bush would like one of his Secret Service agents to be a rent-a-cop at night," he said.

Doyle said he did not know whether the Sea-Tac screener held down a second job. However, he said, "as long as they do their job as a TSA screener, it's none of our business."

David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, another industry lobbying group, suggested that turnstiles could be used to prevent travelers from entering through the exit lanes. Or there could be two screeners manning each post, instead of one.

Still, Stempler said, security has improved since the terror attacks.

"They're polite, they're efficient," Stempler said. "People seem to be processing through in a reasonable amount of time, yet feel they're getting a sufficient amount of searching.

"There were so many deficiencies before, they couldn't all be fixed."

Beginning today, Sea-Tac officials will implement another security change. Passengers will have to have boarding passes to pass the checkpoints, which means they may no longer check in at the gates.

Maureen O'Hagan: 206-464-2562.