Newark Airport replacing Arbenbright Security over lapses

By

Posted 9:10AM on Sunday, April 7, 2002

NEWARK, NEW JERSERY - Newark International Airport has replaced the Atlanta-based security firm that checked passengers on Sept. 11, the day a flight from Newark crashed in western Pennsylvania after hijackers took control. Argenbright Security Inc., which has come under fire for lax screening at airports nationwide, will leave Newark by the end of the month. The company, which has 50 passenger and baggage screeners working for United Airlines at Terminal A, will be replaced by a competitor, St. Louis-based Huntleigh USA, a Huntleigh spokeswoman said. ``It's in the works,'' spokeswoman Jessica Neal told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Saturday editions. ``We're willing to cooperate with the government as much as we can.'' Neal said the company planned to take over at Newark by April 22. This year, the federal Transportation Security Administration said it would oust Argenbright from airport security operations as it took over contracts between private firms and airlines. By year's end, all firms are supposed to cede operations to the federal agency, which is establishing its own force of airport screeners. Federal officials have promised their takeover of airport security will lead to better-trained and better-paid screeners. Screeners also will have to hold U.S. citizenship, be able to speak and write English and have a high-school diploma, equivalency degree or adequate job experience. Argenbright spokeswoman Christine DiBartolo said the company has been ``attempting our exit from aviation security for some time now.'' She said employees might find jobs with other security firms. ``We are working on providing them with every opportunity to find new employment,'' DiBartolo said. Argenbright screeners handled security for United Airlines Flight 93, which was taken over by terrorists after leaving Newark on Sept. 11. The plane, which authorities said appeared to be on a suicide mission to Washington, D.C., crashed in a Pennsylvania field after hijackers struggled with passengers. Argenbright screeners at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport let a man pass through a security checkpoint with a stun gun, knives and Mace last year. Last fall, a federal report accused Argenbright of hiring security guards with criminal convictions. In 2000, the firm was fined $1.2 million for hiring convicted felons to search carry-on luggage at Philadelphia International Airport. That same year, an Argenbright guard was fired by Seton Hall University after failing to intervene in an abduction near the college's gate that ended with the fatal shooting of a woman. Argenbright said the guard followed proper procedure by reporting the struggle to a university employee at a dispatch center, and argued that the second employee should have called police.