Seeking a More Secure LAX

More than a year after a security study concluded that people waiting on sidewalks and in lobbies at Los Angeles International Airport are at risk from bombs in cars and suitcases, the city’s Airport Commission is expected to take action today to significantly reduce crowds.

Commissioners are considering offering a $900,000 contract to the Rand Corp., the firm that drafted the study. Rand would work with the airport, airlines and the federal Transportation Security Administration to speed travelers through terminals into more secure gate areas.

The move would be an about-face for Los Angeles World Airports, which is overseen by the commission. The agency concluded earlier this year that it could not significantly shorten lines in the near term because it would require a third more ticket agents and security screeners.

A report to the commission from the airport staff demonstrates a newfound urgency, including a recommendation that the contract be awarded to Rand.

“Not approving this item will delay LAWA’s efforts to act upon recommendations already presented by the Rand Corp. to improve security,” the six-page report said. “This delay could potentially expose LAWA to significant loss of life, extensive property damage and increased liability in the event of a terrorist attack.”

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was sharply critical of predecessor Mayor James K. Hahn for not implementing Rand’s recommendations. Villaraigosa has said repeatedly that he expects the airport agency to work with the nonprofit.

“The mayor himself will push to make sure we can do everything we can do as quickly as possible,” said Maurice Suh, deputy mayor for homeland security and public safety. “We don’t want to sit and wait through a long bureaucratic litigation process to keep our Los Angeles travelers safe.”

The commission’s consideration of a contract with the Santa Monica firm comes a month after Lydia Kennard, known for her security efforts at LAX after the Sept. 11 attacks, returned to the agency. Kennard and the commission were handpicked by the mayor.

“Whatever it takes to protect the traveling public here is a very important goal and we intend to meet it,” Kennard said. “I’m very optimistic that we can strike a good partnership with the airlines and the TSA. We must have a can-do attitude.”

Security experts said the 13-month delay since the wide-ranging Rand report was released has set the airport back in the race to keep up with terrorists.

“We’ve fallen a half-step behind -- we have to catch up,” said Donald Stevens, a senior engineer at Rand and lead author of the report. “Terrorists are changing already. The bombs they used in London are much more sophisticated bombs than they were using previously -- they used a different substance, they weren’t nitrogen-based.”

Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) commissioned a previous Rand study that concluded that a passenger check-in center in Hahn’s $11-billion modernization plan for LAX would have made passengers more vulnerable to attack. She said she was confident the new mayor and his commission would move quickly to enhance security at the airport.

“I’m thrilled Rand and LAWA have reconnected, but I won’t break out the champagne until the shatterproof glass and barriers are in place,” she said. “The public that uses LAX should be a lot safer real soon.”

During the nine-month contract, Rand would study short-term security improvements at LAX and Ontario International Airport.

Rand would assess the “acceptable density” of passengers in terminal lobbies and figure out the most efficient rate to move vehicles through security checkpoints on streets outside LAX.

Using data available from the Defense Department, Rand researchers would consider a range of technologies to screen passengers, baggage, cargo and cars, including scales to weigh vehicles to check for larger bombs.

Officials expect to take a close look at a blast-resistant film that covers glass to prevent it from shattering during a bomb attack. The coating doesn’t protect windows a few feet from a bomb blast, but would help strengthen those in adjacent terminals.

In an IRA bombing in London, Stevens said, “over half of the deaths were due to shard glass, so this might be something that would be a big help. We have to look at the cost and the effectiveness.”

Rand would also develop an “immediate action” plan to implement their recommendations and other security enhancements.

Rand’s previous analysis -- which considered potential casualties from car bombs, mortars, snipers and surface-to-air missiles -- was the first public review of the airport’s vulnerabilities and the most cost-effective ways to fix them.

After finding that people on sidewalks and in lobbies were at risk from car and luggage bombs, Rand urged the city to reduce crowds and to establish permanent checkpoints at LAX entrances to search vehicles for bombs.

Rand said that only a 5% increase in airline employees would be necessary to reduce lines at ticket counters to a waiting time of five to seven minutes. Average waits at ticket counters are about 40 minutes during peak travel times.

But the airlines have disputed that finding, saying every terminal has a different layout and passenger-arrival pattern, making it difficult to generalize.

“If this could be solved by hiring a few people, we would do that, but our analysis didn’t show that,” said Dennis Olson, managing director for the LAX Airport Airlines Affairs Committee, a trade group that represents carriers. “I think it’s the right time and place to sit down with Rand and make sure we’re making the right decisions.”

Airline representatives also say that they’re dealing with antiquated infrastructure that prevents them from adding more ticket agents to process passengers.

“During our peak periods at noon and 22:00 at night, we’re using already today 180 of the 188 ticket counters, so the ability to add staffing is nominal,” said Frank Clark, executive director of the nonprofit organization that represents carriers operating at Tom Bradley International Terminal.

International carriers would rather use self-service kiosks, like those available in other terminals, to help speed up the check-in process and reduce lines, he said.

As airlines cope with long lines at ticket counters, the lines at security checkpoints -- particularly those in Terminal 1, Terminal 4 and the Bradley Terminal -- receded in the last year after the airport installed additional lanes.

New checkpoint lanes “significantly reduced the wait time, and significantly reduced the security hazard,” said Larry Fetters, the TSA’s federal security director at LAX.

But he added that he didn’t get additional screeners to staff the new lanes, saying the TSA would have to work with the airlines, the airport agency and Rand to figure out ways to further reduce lines without more workers.

“Additional resources are not forthcoming,” Fetters said. “In the 2006 budget, the staffing level for screeners was cut from 45,000 to 43,000. We’re probably going to take a hit of 100 people when it’s finalized at LAX, just as passenger flow and flights are going up.”