No-Fly List Violation Earns Fine for Ticket Agent

TAMPA - Handing Hatim Naji Fariz a boarding pass for a flight in 2003 could cost a former Southwest Airlines employee $3,000.

Fariz was on a government "no-fly" list stemming from an antiterrorism case when he attempted to board a Chicago-bound flight at Tampa International Airport in August 2003.

Ticket agent Carolyn Rowland noticed Fariz wasn't allowed to fly but gave him the boarding pass because that's the way she and her co-workers handled no-fly cases, she said Thursday. She said she immediately notified a supervisor, who stopped Fariz from boarding.

She initially was congratulated by colleagues for her efforts, she said. Supervisors later chastised her and she said her career suffered. She left Southwest Airlines three months after the incident.

Transportation Security Administration officials sent Rowland a letter last month informing her she was being fined $3,000 for handing Fariz the boarding pass.

In its letter, the TSA wrote Rowland violated a policy that states no one can "tamper or interfere with, compromise, modify, attempt to circumvent any security system, measure or procedure."

Rowland said she does not have the money to pay the fine. The agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, wrote that Rowland can request a hearing or a reduction to the fine.

She consulted a Fort Lauderdale-based lawyer Thursday to see how she should handle the case.

Fariz, who was indicted with former University of South Florida Professor Sami Al-Arian on charges they aided the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, had a judge's permission to fly to Chicago to be with his ailing mother.

Christopher White, a TSA spokesman, said the agency cannot comment, but said the TSA views the no-fly list as a "very important element of aviation security."

It is not uncommon for the TSA to file civil claims against workers who do not follow its regulations, he said.

Rowland, 52, now lives in Fort Lauderdale and works as a vacation planner. She worked for Southwest Airlines for five years and was a supervisor and a trainer before Fariz came to her station.

"It was just unbelievable how things took an about-face," she said.

Calls to Southwest Airlines were not returned Thursday.

In July, Fariz pleaded guilty to aiding a terrorist group. He is serving a three-year, one month sentence at a federal prison in Oklahoma.

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