Security chiefs report for 'boot camp'

Customer service is stressed along with security

Working on screening technique at Baltimore-Washington International: "I think the real challenge," says San Diego security director Michael Aguilar, "will be to make sure that security and passenger satisfaction complement each other."

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- At this week's 'boot camp' for the nation's top airport security chiefs at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the federal government is testing the latest post-September 11 security.

An employment ad for the right people might read, "Wanted: Friendly screeners who can get the job done in 10 minutes or less."

The security chiefs who have been put through their paces this week are the ones who'll have to hire more than 30,000 security screeners for the country's airport checkpoints. And what's being stressed is that customer service -- not just security -- is important.

Here, heads of security still new to their own jobs are in the trenches with screeners, observing the latest techniques.

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"I think the challenge," says Michael Aguilar, federal security director for San Diego, California, "will be to make sure that security and passenger satisfaction complement each other."

The changes and approaches being tried out at Baltimore-Washington right now may be coming soon to an airport near you.

Predicting problems

"I'm sure you've seen lots of new stories about machines becoming unplugged and electrical power failing," says Hans Miller, the airport's project manager. "We've taken care of that here at our test site by redoing the electrical systems."

There are also new X-ray machines here for shoes -- helping move nearly 60-percent more passengers through screening every hour, officials say, than other equipment.

"When somebody's shoes set off the alarm," says Miller, "the screener brings them to this machine. it really cuts down on the wait-time for everybody."

Passengers who set off metal detectors are taken to glass-enclosed areas for rechecking, no longer holding up the line.

And those old blue bins for keys and cell phones? -- the ones that used to tip over inside the screening machine? They've been replaced by flat, clear bins.

"It's important to deliver the proper image," says Kurt Krause, a Marriott marketing executive. That image, he says, is one of security. "But it's also customer service."

So friendliness becomes a top priority.

The changes, which airport officials say have cut waiting times in half, are the ideas of business executives and consultants on loan to Washington's new Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

When someone's shoes set off an alarm at the regular checkpoint, they're moved to a new shoe X-ray scanner, out of the way.

Just before the federal government took over airport security in February, undercover investigators found major breaches.

Nearly half the time, the screeners didn't catch prohibited items -- things with sharp edges, knives and even guns.

Now, the challenge is to make screening effective, not just efficient.

And these new security chiefs at this week's "boot camp" will be judged on performance, not popularity.