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A foiled terror plot put airport security back in the headlines and passengers suddenly had to adjust to new rules.

KHOU-TV

What needs to be done to retain airport screeners?

Take a closer look at the workers who had to implement the changes, airport screeners.

Why is it is so tough to keep screeners on the line?

During morning rush hour at Bush Intercontinental Airport, before you get to the gate, you walk that familiar yet annoying gauntlet of security.

It is lined by uniformed workers, strangers, yet we follow their orders.

“Folks make sure you hand us your boarding pass when you walk in please,” said one screener.

Over and over again, they say the same things.

While they seem ever-present, watching, inspecting and scanning, behind the scenes, it is getting tougher to hire, train and keep airport screeners

“It’s a lot of things you have to focus on,” said Mary Morgan, “There’s good days and bad, like anything else, some days you have people very cooperative, some days you have people that aren’t.”

Morgan has been a screener at bush for four years

It is a difficult balancing act between being alert and polite and it’s not for everyone.

Last year nearly one in four screeners nationwide quit; at Bush, between 10-15 percent leave.

“A lot of times it’s stress.  A lot of people just can’t take the pressure of this job,” said Morgan.

Some decide they can make more money with less pressure. Starting salary for the job is $23,000 plus bonuses.

Jim Marchand is Federal Security Director at Bush.

“We have some that just physically can’t do the job, you are on your feet eight to 10 hours a day and then lifting bags, and these bags are anywhere from 50 to 70 pounds,” he said.

There is also pressure in dealing with sheer numbers. Nearly 44,000 people pass through Intercontinental every day. That’s a lot of bags, purses and shoes.

“We rotate our people every 30 minutes. We move positions,” Marchand said.

They rotate from X-ray machine to metal detector to exit lane to body search.

Then there is the unpredictable.  News of a foiled terror plot to blow up planes forced the TSA to adapt, and fast.

“We got notified at 9 p.m. that new procedures were going in the next morning,” said Marchand.

So along with bombs, guns and knives, suddenly liquids were added to the danger list.

We mentioned being alert and polite, but they must also be suspicious.

“As far as I’m concerned everybody is suspect until I clear them,” said Marchand.

Since 9/11 billions have been spent and still the question is asked, ‘Are the airports safe?.

Marchand said we still need better technology.

“But until you get technology you have to rely on the human factor, absolutely,” he said.  We have to be confident in the technology because we have no other choice.

So while we trudge through this obstacle course, screeners and their machines try to stay one step ahead of terrorists, knowing one mistake could be costly.