20 Quotes by Nico Melendez

Why someone would leave $4,000 in their checked luggage is beyond me. Why don't they just take the $4,000 and leave it on the seat at Aloha Stadium during a football game and let somebody pick it up? Because that's essentially what they did.

We're going to implement an element of random secondary inspections at the checkpoint. But because it's random, we're not going to offer any details.

If we were to find that somebody did get through a checkpoint with pepper spray or any other kinds of spray for that matter that are prohibited, certainly there would be cause for concern. If passengers think they got through security accidentally with something that they shouldn't have, we invite them to please come back to the checkpoint and tell our supervisors, tell our managers at the checkpoints so that we can take immediate action.

If Thanksgiving was any indication -- it's much busier than Christmas, and we had no real problems -- things will be fine.

It blows air across your body and dislodges microscopic particles that you may have been in contact with, thereby screening for explosives.

It is a continual progression. We need to stay one step ahead.

We will research and investigate each claim fully and take steps when necessary because we expect our screeners to live up to a higher standard than anyone else.

We're not aware of that specific case, so there's nothing we can do about a possible meat cleaver getting through security. I can tell you that security today is better than it ever has been. We constantly train and re-train our screeners at the security checkpoints.

We have good men and women who are dedicated to the security of aviation and to the security of the transportation system, and I think we need to recognize that we have more good people working for us than we do bad.