Word: denver
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...Still, Denver is a more inviting place than most American airports to spend an hour or 12. After you have passed the ticket counters (centralized, helpfully, in two expansive rows on either side of the main terminal) and the two maps of America decorated with photos of oddball tourist attractions (such as the world's largest office chair, in Anniston, Ala.), you can stroll across a giant land bridge overlooking the snaking security lines. One Denver innovation has helped these lines move more quickly: express lines for passengers with only one carry-on item (a purse or small suitcase...
...incidents--big weather problems as well as security breaches--the action shifts to the room next door, where a SWAT team of airport personnel are summoned around a circular conference table whose centerpiece pops up at the push of a button to give each participant a phone and computer. Denver's layout makes dealing with a security breach easier than at many airports: the train system is instantly shut down, isolating any passenger who has slipped by security (usually inadvertently) in one concourse rather than requiring the evacuation of the whole airport...
Baumgartner and his team know they have a pretty efficient system in Denver, and they aren't happy about their new federal overlords. First, there are the logistical headaches caused by the TSA's demand for 17,000 sq. ft. of office space at the airport to house what will eventually be a force of nearly 2,000 people in three rotating shifts. Baumgartner wants to charge the going rate of $72 per sq. ft.; the TSA complains that's too steep for a federal agency already stretched thin. "You can't just walk 2,000 people into an airport...
...detect explosives by testing a cloth that has swabbed the luggage. But these devices have problems too. They require two to three times as much staff as the EDS machines, and security experts say they are highly unreliable unless used according to strict protocols. As Time watched a Denver screener operate one of the trace machines, he had to punch it several times just to get it to register a clear signal...
Bags that might be carrying bombs are just one security concern that Denver is dealing with. Another is the large number of people--fuelers, caterers, baggage handlers--who have access to planes on the airfield. Even before Sept. 11, Denver had a program called Always Challenge Everybody, which urged all airport employees to question unauthorized people in secure areas and report suspicious activities--and offered gifts from airport concessionaires and vouchers for airline tickets as a reward. Since Sept. 11, the airport has also beefed up its background checks, for the first time screening all employees, not just newly hired...