Airlines to start profiling, bag matching

[Alan Olsen <root@nwdtc.com>]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncs17.htm



07/10/97 - 08:26 AM ET

Airlines to start profiling, bag matching

New security measures for domestic flights, combining limited bag
matching with a controversial computerized profiling system, will be
operating by Dec. 31, Federal
Aviation Administration officials said Wednesday. 

But the proposal, scaled down from what a presidential commission
recommended in September, immediately drew fire from airline safety and
civil rights proponents. 

The FAA will require that "first, passengers are profiled and selected
bags are searched or matched," said Bruce Butterworth, director of civil
aviation security
operations, in an interview with USA TODAY. 

Airlines are expected to match bags with about 5% of fliers. A
computerized profiling system will identify those who might pose a
security risk. Example: passengers
who buy tickets with cash. 

If someone matches the profile, their bags would not be stowed until
they actually board the plane. 

Total bag matching is routine on international flights. 

But American Airlines executive vice president Robert Baker says he
doubts that the Dec. 31 deadline will be met because airlines are still
developing a profiling
system. "We'll be lucky to have this in place by next year," he says. 

The FAA says it was encouraged that a test of bag matching in May at 12
U.S. airports didn't cause massive delays. Proponents of 100% bag
matching say the FAA
caved into the airlines' demands. 

"This weakens the whole idea of bag matching. It's about time the FAA
decides whether it's on the side of profits for the airlines or on the
side of safety," says
Susan Cohen, whose daughter was killed by the terrorist bombing of Pan
Am Flight 103 in 1988. 

The presidential commission had proposed that every passenger be matched
with every bag on all domestic flights. 

But after the airlines objected, fearing massive delays, it agreed to a
combination of profiling and limited matching. 

Others say profiling may discriminate against some ethnic groups.
"Passengers should not have to give up essential liberties just to get
on planes," says the ACLU's
Gregory Nojeim. 

By Donna Rosato, USA TODAY