Washington, D.C.
Federal screeners took over the job of checking passengers and carry-on luggage at the nation’s airports this week. Officials selected 40,000 people from a pool of 1.6 million applicants and rushed to train them, meeting a deadline with one day to spare. The task was “Herculean,” but “the American can-do spirit always prevails,” Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said. The polite, white-shirted officers have been better trained and will be better paid than the sometimes lackadaisical private screeners they replaced. But the $6 billion security overhaul ordered after Sept. 11 remained far from complete. Bomb-detection machines were supposed to be installed at every airport by year’s end, but officials admit they’ll miss the deadline at 30 busy terminals.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
