Michael Cheston has been on the job for nearly a year now as executive director of the state’s airports – most notably, T.F. Green in Warwick.
He had the unenviable task of succeeding Elaine Roberts, who was credited with leading T.F. Green through a period of unprecedented growth. By all accounts, Cheston, a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, has performed admirably.
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Cheston has been accessible and straight-forward, and has demonstrated a strong sense of leadership. These qualities are sure to serve Rhode Island well as we enter a period of economic uncertainty – one sure to challenge T.F. Green to continue its impressive run of success.
Cheston’s opinion on how best to ensure security at airports throughout the United States deserves attention.
Cheston has told Rhode Island’s congressional delegation that the airports themselves — with or without federalized security – need to be in charge of their own security.
As of now, FAA rules put the airport in charge of security in the common areas of the terminal and on individual airfields, but places the airlines in charge of making sure weapons do not get past a final checkpoint and onto a plane.
Congress and the White House will ultimately chart the course for how our airports are protected. The Senate and the House have versions of security proposals, each with their own merit. A mix of the two, however, is likely to produce a gray area that Cheston suggests is just what our nation’s airports do not need.
What the airports do need, according to Cheston, is one individual who has the “responsibility and authority to act and direct security at each airport.”
Cheston’s point should be heeded.
He is, after all, on the front lines of this issue. Two weeks ago, Cheston told state and city of Warwick officials that the airline checkpoints represent a glaring weak point in airport security throughout the country.
It makes sense to us that the airports, rather than the airlines, be responsible for airport security. With the airlines there is the very obvious danger of cutting corners in order to make on-time promises, or to stay within a budget.
This is no time to be cutting corners. And it’s no time to become overly concerned because a traveler has been slightly inconvenienced or delayed at an airport. That time passed on September 11.
