The federal official in charge of the nation’s airports said Friday security has been “stepped up a notch” in the face of renewed terror warnings this holiday weekend and said authorities are asking the public to be vigilant.
“If they see anything unusual, report it — an unattended package, something that just doesn’t look right, even odd behavior in the terminal or on the aircraft,” FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said on NBC’s “Today” show.
She said photographs of seven suspected terrorists released Wednesday by the FBI “are everywhere” and that screeners have been redeployed to some of the busiest airports in anticipation of heavy Memorial Day holiday travel.
“Certainly we are going to be on red alert looking for those individuals,” Blakey added on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
With 200 million people expected to fly over the summer months, she cited a number of things travelers can do to make their trips easier and quicker.
“One of the first things I go to is my PDA, or telephone, because now we have a brand new service, www.faa.gov/wireless, and you can go on and actually pick up what the story is at your airport before you go,” she said on NBC.
“Are you running into any ground delays? Is there weather to be aware of? In fact, you can go to your specific airline and see what’s the story on the flight. It lets you schedule, you’re more in control and it really does give you a way of understanding the situation rather than just getting there and saying, ‘What’s going on.”’
The same information is available on the regular FAA Web site at www.faa.gov for people not using a wireless device such as a personal digital assistant or cell phone.
