The US government is to hire and train 28,000 new workers to screen passengers and baggage at over 400 American airports, under a bill signed into law by US President George Bush in Washington yesterday.
The measure comes after the failure of private security companies to prevent hijackers taking control of four commerical aircraft on September 11th. President Bush, an opponent of "big government", had initially opposed making the screeners federal employees, as it expands the government payroll by so much - more than the total staff employed by the State Department.
However, several serious security lapses since the attacks on New York and Washington and the need to reassure a nervous public defeated heavy lobbying of Congress by the private firms that airlines contracted to provide security, and the bill was passed on Friday evening.
The most recent incident happened on Friday at Atlanta' Hartsfield airport, the nation's busiest, when operations were halted for several hours and several planes recalled after a man ran down an "up" escalator.
He was caught and claimed he was trying to find a camera he had mislaid. "For our airways there is one supreme priority: security," Mr Bush said as he signed the bill at a ceremony at Reagan National Airport.
"For the first time, airport security will become a direct federal responsibility."
Airports may seek permission after three years to return to private screening but for now, Mr Bush said, "Security comes first; the federal government will set high standards and we will enforce them." In addition to the new measure, National Guard soldiers now patrol US airport terminals, additional air marshals have been assigned to passenger flights and cockpit doors have been strengthened to prevent intrusion by hijackers.
The bill also requires airports to expand inspections of all checked baggage for explosives within 60 days (at present only one in 10 pieces of luggage are inspected for bombs).
Passengers will be charged from $2.50 to $5 for each journey to pay for the new federal expense.
The measure comes on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend when on last year's figures 6.3 million Americans could be expected to travel home by air. This year the number is expected to be down 27 per cent to 4.6 million, according to the American Automobile Association.