Heightened security coming to Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport
Chris Thiel says he doesn’t really feel any safer flying these days, despite security measures put into place since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
“The measures haven’t made me feel like they would catch something,” said Mr. Thiel, a Memphis resident who was flying from the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport recently.
Still, most of the tightened security is expected to stay, and more changes are on the way. Bomb inspection equipment will be installed later this year at the Chattanooga airport, and the facility’s security checkpoint will be rebuilt to improve its operation, officials said.
Judy Weaver, the airport’s vice president of marketing, said Chattanooga likely will meet a Dec. 31 deadline for installation of the luggage screening equipment. She described the bomb detection equipment as the size of a General Motors Suburban. It is expected to be placed in the ticketing area of the airport, though she didn’t know how much will be seen by airport users.
The redesigned checkpoint also will put parts of that operation behind closed doors, she said.
There will be private screening rooms for individual travelers who need to be checked. Also, the reconfigured checkpoint will make it more difficult for someone to go around it and down the existing concourse exit, she said.
Not everyone feels as Mr. Thiel about the value of the security steps. Ron Dotson of Cleveland, Tenn., said at the Chattanooga airport that he feels safer when flying today, recalling that on a recent trip to Washington, D.C., security was “pretty tight.” “It’s not really a hassle,” he said. Among the changes at Chattanooga’s airport over the past year:
■ Security guards are checking the trunks of vehicles entering the main parking area at the airport.
“It gives added security for people coming into the building,” Ms. Weaver said. “You can still give grandma a hug before moving on.”
■ No one but ticket holders can go past the checkpoint into the concourse.
“You can’t meet and greet at the gates. That probably will remain,” Ms. Weaver said.
■ Checkpoint guards still are confiscating some items from travelers, though there are exceptions. Ms. Weaver said nail clippers now may be carried, but for a while they could not. Also, travelers can take open drink containers through the checkpoint, she said.
■ The bag-matching system put into place after Sept. 11 is staying. Every bag is matched to a passenger. If not, the bag is pulled from the flight, Ms. Weaver said.
Chattanooga’s airport also has added security around the perimeter of Lovell Field, and there are more officers on duty than before the Sept. 11 attacks, she said.
She said some people complain about the measures, mostly regarding parking. Ms. Weaver said the business travelers are the ones hardest hit.
“We’re 70 to 80 percent business,” she said.
At the same time, because of the size of Chattanooga’s airport, it’s easier for travelers to speed through the security measures, the airport official said.
Ms. Weaver said it takes 70 minutes to get to the gate in Atlanta and only 16 minutes in Chattanooga.