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Too slow on the go

Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 22/07) - Mayor Gord Van Tighem says going through the security gate at the Yellowknife airport has become too much of a hassle.

He said he has received numerous complaints from residents about long lineups at security, delayed flights and resulting missed connections even though the airport's security gate appears amply staffed.
NNSL Photo/graphic

Mayor Gord Van Tighem displays a baggie containing hand cream. The baggies are handed out to departing passengers by federal screening agents at the Yellowknife airport. The mayor says the line ups at security are taking too long. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo

"How come in Abbotsford (B.C.), which handles about as many passengers, they have one line and six security agents and there is never a lineup, but in Yellowknife there are two lines and 13 or 14 security agents and there is always a lineup?" Van Tighem wondered.

"You go through the airport, and they say, 'Don't worry, the plane will wait.' Then you say to them, 'Yes, but my connection in Edmonton or Calgary won't.' And they're like, 'oh.'"

Last June, Van Tighem raised his concerns with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), created after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The mayor was asked to contribute to a review of CATSA's services - a document that was published at the end of last year.

The need for increased security - even in remote locations such as Yellowknife - are self-evident in this post-September 11 world, said Van Tighem, but passenger traffic at the Yellowknife airport is growing, and the mayor wonders whether CATSA can keep up.

According to the territorial government, the number of passengers flowing through the airport rose to 320,000 in 2003 from 192,000 in 1988. Van Tighem said that figure grew by nine per cent in 2004, and appears to be climbing still.

Van Tighem said he was told that some of the problems have to do with "high turnover" of security screening staff.

On Jan. 5, a Yellowknifer reporter observed 16 staff clearing passengers for a morning flight. Some were actively involved in screening passengers, while others appeared to be simply watching.

Yellowknife resident Jo-Ann Cooper said the last time she took a flight in September, the lineup was "a little insane," although not as bad as airports in larger cities down south.

Her beef, however, is with demands that passengers place carry-on items containing liquid or gel into clear plastic bags - a requirement that was imposed after British authorities arrested suspects in England with a supposed plot to blow up planes with liquid explosives last August.

"I imagine (CATSA's) purpose is the fact that they can see something but if they're putting something through their X-ray you're going to see it anyway," said Cooper.

"You're maybe travelling with stuff that you require but not everyone needs to know, especially for us women."

Cooper said she also wonders about the apparent lack of consistency in security procedures.

"Here, they can be lax about some things but not with others, and it can be the total opposite, like say in Edmonton or Toronto."

Great Slave MLA Bill Braden said he's noticed inconsistent security procedures as well.

He's sailed through some security gates, while receiving the full treatment at others.

"I remember going through in my spring/fall jacket that I've been wearing for the last three or four years, and it got plucked out," said Braden. "They started going through my pockets (in Yellowknife).

"They fished around for 10 minutes and found two-and-a-half inch finishing nails that had worked their way through the pockets."

Renee Fairweather, CATSA's director of communications, said peak travel periods during the day lead to instances of longer lineups, but flight delays are compounded by a lack of awareness among some passengers about what they can and cannot bring.

"As a result of that, we're having to spend a lot more time going through baggage," said Fairweather.

"People are having to abandon their liquids, gels and their aerosols. All of that compounds the processing period."

She acknowledged that there is turnover with security staff, but they are doing their best to keep it to a minimum.

CATSA's review, entitled Flight Plan: Managing Risks in Aviation Security, points to low pay and high turnover for screening officers as an issue, with almost 50 per cent taking second or even third jobs to supplement their incomes. CATSA's review panel notes that higher pay may attract "sufficient numbers of applicants with the highest aptitude for threat detection."

Fairweather couldn't say what screening staff are paid or how many work at the Yellowknife airport. They're typically hired by a private company that has a contract with CATSA.

Evelyn Nind, a travel agent with Marlin Travel, said increased security at airports, including in Yellowknife, is just the way it is and passengers simply have to adjust.

"Security right now is pretty tight," said Nind.

"We all know if you want to fly somewhere it's something you have to put up with.

"If you don't like it, you should take a car or a bus. I have no sympathy for people who complain about these things because I'd rather be safe than sorry."