John Wayne Airport to Get Full-Body Scanners

Passengers departing from John Wayne Airport will soon encounter a new measure before clearing the security checkpoint.

The TSA plans to install full-body scanners at the Orange County Airport. Scanners will be placed in all three terminals, including the impending Terminal C, which is expected to be in-use by mid-November.

"John Wayne is a prime airport with a good amount of passenger traffic,” said TSA spokesman Nico Melendez, “The new terminal provides us with the infrastructure to install them."

Passengers who feel uncomfortable with undergoing a full body scan can still opt to pass through the metal detector and receive a pat down from a TSA agent.

“Passengers need to remember they have an option when it comes to screening," Melendez said. "If they don’t want to, they don’t have to."

Melendez said he does not see the machines contributing adversely to wait time on the security line.

"I don’t believe there will be any negative impact with the new machines. It’s very similar to the situation we have at San Diego, Palm Springs, and Los Angeles. It steps things up in some cases."

Kate Hanni, spokesperson and founder of FlyersRights.org, a non-profit airline consumer organization, was surprised that the TSA was still planning to implement these machines.

"This equipment is obsolete. It’s 20 year-old technology," she said.

Hanni was under the impression that the TSA would revert to the Trusted Traveler program, which was almost identical to the Fly-Clear program that was in airports up until a couple of years ago.

"The TSA came forward last December and said by the end of 2011, we will have the Trusted Traveler Program. All Americans would be able to use a card – you apply for it, you do a six-week background check to make sure you’re safe, that you haven’t committed any felonies, you don’t have a criminal background. You give them a finger print and an iris scan.”

Once approved, Hanni said “all you have to do is put your card down and do an iris scan, and you’re brought to the front of the line."

But with the growing use of body scanners, Hanni said there are ways for passengers to be aware if they have been pre-selected to go through intrusive screening.

"When you print your ticket at home, you may have been assigned additional screening. You can to go the ticket agent and ask them to look at your scantron and tell you if you’ve been pre-selected.

"If your child under 12 has been pre-selected, you can opt out. For adults, it’s just going to give you the knowledge that you’ve been pre-selected," said Hanni.

"It’s a horrible situation we have with the TSA,” said Hanni. "They’re buying equipment that won’t do much more than a metal dectector, and violating 4th Amendment rights."

The TSA purchased 300 Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines in September, according to their website. Melendez said there are currently 800 in use around the country.