Atlanta airport manager says federal security plan won't work

ATLANTA - Federal plans for bomb detection machines at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport would result in three-hour waits and lines of passengers out into the rain, airport general manager Ben DeCosta said.<br> <br> DeCosta said Monday it is unlikely that the Transportation Security Administration can hire enough workers in time to operate the baggage-screening machines efficiently.<br> <br> Even if it could, Hartsfield&#39;s lobby is too small for the 167 machines and 300 workers per shift needed to operate them, he said.<br> <br> &#34;We said there was no way we&#39;d accept that because all our passengers would be standing out in the rain,&#34; DeCosta said.<br> <br> The TSA was created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to oversee airport security nationwide. It is under a year-end deadline to screen all checked bags for bombs.<br> <br> John Magaw, head of the TSA, was ousted last week, partly because he clashed with airport executives who balked at paying huge construction bills to accommodate the massive baggage-screening equipment.<br> <br> A group of 39 airport directors, including DeCosta, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta in May asking for an extension of the deadline.<br> <br> An extension would give Hartsfield time to install screening machines in basements, where baggage handling already occurs, rather than its busy, crowded terminal, DeCosta said.<br> <br> &#34;We want enough time to do it right, to make sure we have the highest level of security and a level of customer service that will ensure that people return to air transportation,&#34; DeCosta said. &#34;It serves no purpose that people stand in long lines to become so frustrated and hassled that they will seek other alternatives to air transportation.&#34;<br> <br> DeCosta is concerned that the TSA won&#39;t be able to hire the 1,200 workers needed to run the machines by the deadline.<br> <br> In a July 12 letter, DeCosta told Rep. Johnny Isakson that if the TSA is able to provide only half that number, lines could reach more than three hours at peak times.<br> <br> &#34;I don&#39;t have any confidence that they&#39;re going to get there, and the line will be out the door,&#34; DeCosta said.<br> <br> DeCosta wants Hartsfield to use a system of 22 to 28 truck-sized CTX 9000 bomb detecting machines - a CAT-scan technology - to screen the estimated 133,000 bags a day that are checked on flights leaving the airport.<br> <br> That could take two years or more, but it would be a permanent solution that would provide better security in the long run, he said.<br> <br> DeCosta said the CTX system would require an underground extension of Hartsfield&#39;s current baggage screening facility, at a cost of about $30 million.<br> <br> The cost of the extension is more than the $25 million for the proposed lobby redesign, but the cost of running the CTX equipment is lower, DeCosta said.<br> <br>