Tighter security en route.

Byline: ED RUSSO The Register-Guard

When Uncle Sam takes over airport security operations at the Eugene Airport in about a month, the number of federal employees safeguarding air travel out of the airport is likely to swell to more than 100, four times more than a year ago.

But Don Barker, the newly minted federal security director in charge of the Eugene and North Bend airports, says there is good reason for the increase: Thorough passenger and baggage screening without undue disruption to travelers and airlines.

By year end, for example, all checked-in baggage is set to be screened for explosives. Now, only small samples of bags are randomly searched.

"You have a much more aggressive screening program than you have had in the past," said Barker, named to the post on Aug. 2 by the Transportation Security Administration. "But we also want to make sure that we don't slow down the flow of people and adversely affect the airlines and the airport."

The TSA is supposed to hire 50,000 security workers by Nov. 19 as it completes the takeover of screening from private firms at the nation's 429 commercial airports.

Barker said he hopes his agency hires the new screeners for Eugene by late September or early October. Sixty-eight people now screen passengers and bags at the airport, up from 23 last July. Barker has yet to visit North Bend, where 16 people check passengers and bags.

Barker, who only a month ago retired after a 20-year career in the U.S. Marines, finds himself in the middle of the national effort to beef up airport security.

Since Sept. 11, the federal government has revamped how baggage and passengers are checked at commercial airports.

Screeners now employed by private companies at the Eugene Airport and elsewhere have applied for jobs with the TSA, which provides a higher level of training and better wages.

Security screeners will be paid between $23,600 and $35,400 a year, depending on experience, and get similar health, vacation and other benefits as other federal employees. Barker, who will earn $73,000 annually, will have 10 managers, with annual salaries of between $44,000 and $83,000.

But the transition from private security firms hired by airlines to a federal agency with a $4 billion budget has raised eyebrows. Eugene Airport Manager Bob Noble and North Bend Municipal Airport Manager Gary LeTellier, for instance, worry that passengers will pay higher fares to help cover the cost of the new federal agency.

Barker is aware of the concerns but said while the number of employees may seem large now, the TSA would rather hire plenty of people to avoid long lines at checkpoints. After a break-in period and as technology improves, he said, fewer employees may be needed.

Eugene Airport users will see a major change by year end with the installation of bomb detection equipment to screen checked-in baggage.

Big city airports with millions of annual travelers are set to receive expensive bomb detection systems capable of handling large amounts of luggage, but airports in cities the size of Eugene will get different and less costly systems, Barker said.

Details are not final, but travelers probably will give security screeners their bags in front of airline ticket counters, he said. Screeners then will wipe the bags with a cloth that is sent through an explosive detection machine. If the machine senses a trace of an explosive material, "we will take you aside and ask you questions, and open up the bag and search it," Barker said.

A native of Ohio, Barker, 45, retired from the Marines as a major. During a career that included Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and Somalia in 1993, Barker set up and operated airfields, seaports and rail stations in 23 foreign countries and the United States.

After leaving the Marines, Barker thought he would work for a private firm, but Sept. 11 changed his focus. "I wanted to stay engaged with national security and defense of this country," he said.

CAPTION(S):

Don Barker will be overseeing the switch to a federally run security system at the Eugene Airport.