Atlanta's small airports bristle at security plan

Four metro Atlanta airports could have to impose stringent — and costly — new security measures under a new federal proposal aimed at preventing terrorist attacks at smaller airports primarily used by business travelers. The four airports — DeKalb-Peachtree, Fulton County Airport, Briscoe Field in Gwinnett County, and McCollum Field in Cobb County — are on a list released by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jim Tharpe writes that some local airport operators have bristled at the proposed regulations, saying they would be expensive and could change the way general aviation is conducted in the United States. “We basically need to put this proposal back on the shelf and let the general aviation community get together with the TSA and come up with a new plan,” said Lee Remmel, DeKalb-Peachtree’s airport director.

Until recently, general aviation airports have been largely exempt from the security requirements imposed on commercial airports. Some safety experts believe that creates an opening for terrorists, and they note that some aircraft used at general aviation airports are as large as those that use commercial airports. TSA is now rolling out its Large Aircraft Security Proposal, which would add passenger screening and other measures for planes above certain weights. The smallest general aviation craft would not be affected, but larger charter planes and private jets would be.

The idea has aroused intense opposition from the general aviation community. Opponents packed hearings on the proposal in White Plains, New York, and more recently in Atlanta (see 7 January 2009 HS Daily Wire). DeKalb-Peachtree is a major general aviation airport, with about 220,000 flight operations a year. About 600 planes are based there, and 13 companies have hangars and planes at the facility, some of them large jets. Remmel said the proposed new rules would force airports such as his to hire security coordinators, devise a complex security program and provide additional training for police officers responsible for the airport.

Remmel said additional training alone could cost $100,000 a year. “Of course none of this has any funding or training to back it up,” he said.

Doug Carr, spokesman for the National Business Aviation Association, said his organization is trying to determine what the new regulations would cost its 8,000 members. “There’s no such thing as a free regulation,” Carr said.

Doug Barrett, manager of Fulton County Airport-Brown Field, said about 140 planes are based at his airport, 60 percent of them jets. He is not surprised the government has turned its attention to general aviation after years of focusing on big airports. If new rules come, he said, airports like his will have no choice but to make the required changes. “You have to in the national scheme of things,” Barrett said. “But nothing comes without costs.”