Bush urges states to call up Guard to protect airports

By Scott Lindlaw

Associated Press

CHICAGO – President Bush urged governors Thursday to call up National Guard units to protect U.S. airports while he implements a long-term plan to secure airlines from terrorist attack. The package includes putting the federal government in charge of airport security.

Hoping to reassure jittery travelers, Bush also proposed spending $500 million on aircraft modifications that would deny or delay access to cockpits.

Terrorists hijacked four airplanes Sept. 11, crashing two into the World Trade Center in New York and one into the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth crashed in Pennsylvania, apparently after passengers struggled with the hijackers. U.S. air travel has dropped sharply since the attacks.

The White House released an outline of Bush’s air-security plan shortly before the president left for Chicago, where he was discussing the proposals with airline workers.

Hundreds of workers gathered outside an airport hangar to greet the president. Two jets were parked nose-to-nose at the event – one each from United Airlines and American Airlines, the carriers hijacked Sept. 11.

For the second time this year, Bush was having lunch here with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat and brother of Al Gore’s campaign chairman last year.

Bush said Wednesday he was offering the “confidence-boosting measures and some concrete proposals” to “convince the American public it is safe to fly.”

“One of my concerns is that this terrible incident has convinced many Americans to stay at home,” Bush said. “And one of the keys to economic recovery is going to be the vitality of the airline industry.”

Bush’s plan includes:

—Expanding the use of federal air marshals aboard commercial airliners. “The requirements and qualifications of federal air marshals are among the most stringent of any U.S. federal law enforcement agency,” the White House statement said.

—Spending $500 million on plan modifications, including efforts to restrict the opening of cockpit doors during flights, fortify cockpit doors to deny access from the cabin, alert the cockpit crew to activity in the cabin and ensure continuous operation of the aircraft transponder in the event of an emergency. The transponder allows air controllers to track a plane.

—Putting the federal government in charge of airport security and screening, including the purchase and maintenance of all equipment. The government would supervise passenger and baggage security and perform background checks on security personnel. Uniformed federal workers would manage all operations; federal and nonfederal workers would share the security work.

“Fully implementing the extensive security proposal may take four to six months,” the White House statement said. “During that time, the president will help ensure that every airport has a strong security presence by asking the governors of the 50 states to call up the National Guard – at the federal government’s expense – to augment existing security staff at every commercial airport nationwide.”

Bush’s trip to Chicago was the second time he has traveled on Air Force One since the Sept. 11 jetliner attacks on New York and Washington that left nearly 7,000 dead or missing.

White House officials said the administration has several other options under consideration, including installing cameras to monitor jetliner cabins. Bush also hopes to reopen Reagan National Airport outside Washington, the only airport still closed due to the Sept. 11 attacks, but is not yet convinced that flying there would be safe, aides said. He is examining options that could lead to the reopening of the airport.

Bush’s plan does not include arming pilots, action requested by the pilots themselves. “There may be better ways to do it than that, but I’m open for any suggestion,” Bush said Wednesday, as aides privately confirmed that he is cool to the idea.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta boarded a commercial flight Thursday at Baltimore-Washington International Airport to demonstrate his confidence in the air system. He was bound for Chicago to join Bush, accompanied by Jane Garvey, head of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Mineta waited in a long line at a BWI security checkpoint. He placed a leather bag on a scanner’s conveyor belt, took out his keys and walked through the metal detector. It beeped, prompting a security guard to give Mineta a thorough sweep with a hand-held detector before allowing him onto Concourse A.

Mineta called the system safe, secure and stable.

Bush’s father, the nation’s 41st president, planned a news conference at Logan Airport in Boston to reassure Americans before flying from Boston to Houston.

The White House is also eager to convince the public that life is returning to normal, and getting Americans back onto airplanes is part of the effort.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the number of commercial flights each day had returned to near normal, now at about 5,500, compared with the maximum before the attacks of 6,500.

However, relatively few people are on those flights. Delta Air Lines, for example, says its planes typically are only 35 percent filled.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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