Airport screeners to become government workers

All airport baggage screeners could soon bon the federal payroll, clearing the way for a major US aviation security bill later this week.

Under the agreement, the government would immediately begin taking control of airport screening functions, completing that transition within a year.

After that year, all 28,000 baggage screeners, who are now employees of private security firms contracted by airlines, would become federal workers.

All airports would have to stay within the federal system for three years except for five airports that could experiment with other systems under strict federal supervision. After three years, any airport could choose to use non-federal workers as screeners.

Negotiators have been under strong pressure from the White House and their own colleagues to reach a compromise so a bill could be presented to President George W Bush before Thanksgiving holiday November 22.

The proposed compromise would put transportation security under the Transportation Department. The negotiators also agreed to levy a $2.50 (£1.70) fee every time a passenger gets on a plane to help pay for security costs, but would limit that to $5.00 (£3.40) per trip.

The two sides were already in agreement on many points, such as fortifying cockpit doors, increasing air marshals on flights and moving toward screening of all check-in bags.

Transportation Department Inspector General Kenneth Mead told a Senate Governmental Affairs hearing that numerous measures had been taken since September 11 to bolster security but there were "still alarming lapses of security".

Fewer than 10 percent of checked bags at the nation's airports are inspected for bombs and one detection machine operator was found falling asleep on the job, Mead said.

He added even those airports that have the $1m machines often use them only sporadically. A survey by his office over the past weekend of 30 machines at nine airports found that 73 percent were not in continuous use.