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Fact Sheet: Security
- Global aviation security continues to evolve and improve
- Lack of coordination among regulators has resulted in reduced efficiency, greater costs to government and industry, and passenger dissatisfaction. Regulators, airlines and manufacturers need to work together to develop smarter and faster next-generation aviation security measures for airline passengers, industry employees and the cargo supply chain
- Governments can enhance the effectiveness of aviation security regulations by
- Ensuring compatibility with infrastructure and business processes
- Adapting to emerging threats, expected passenger numbers and cargo volumes
- Risk-based approach to aviation security will enable focus on bad people and bad things
- IATA and industry stakeholders are working to define risk-managed approaches for security and facilitation by promoting:
- A concept of a Checkpoint of the Future
- Use of data to enable passenger differentiation
- Increased use of technology
- Repurposed checkpoints in the short to mid-term
Annual Industry Security Costs
- Aviation security is inherently a government function yet airlines pay $7.4 billion per year in security related costs
- Industry incurs the costs of
- Redundant security requirements
- Increased data collection
- Air marshals and air security officer programs
- Capital expenditures
- Inspections, audits, new procedures
- Security related delays and diversions
- Governments continue to view aviation security as a revenue source, evidenced by recent US proposals for additional tax on passengers and airlines
Advance Passenger Information
- Advance Passenger Information (API) refers to passenger data (usually biographic information from a passport) transferred from the airline to a government authority.
- This is required by many governments for security, immigration and customs purposes
- The cost of transferring data to authorities is approximately $14 per flight or more than $100 million annually
- International standards and guidelines are published by the World Customs Organization (WCO), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and IATA, but not all regulators accept the standard format
- New or differing requirements add to already significant development costs for airlines
- Passengers and airlines need governments to harmonize requirements, eliminate duplication and use internationally agreed upon standards
Passenger Name Records
- Many governments require access to Passenger Name Record (PNR) reservation data
- PNR can contain sensitive personal data, raising data protection and privacy concerns
- Bilateral agreements on the provision of PNR data have been reached between the EU, the US and several other key countries
- IATA developed a standard format for PNR data to encourage harmonization and reduce costs
Checkpoint of the Future
- Current screening is based on a 40-year paradigm: finding metal objects to prevent hijackings
- Checkpoints showing their age: throughput rates falling, can’t handle forecast growth in traffic
- IATA’s vision for an airport Checkpoint of the Future (CoF):
- Focuses on finding “bad people” vs. “bad things;” replaces “one size fits all” model with risk based screening
- Improves security while reducing costs, increasing efficiency, passenger experience
- Use information already provided to governments for customs and immigration purposes to segment passengers for screening lanes according to what is known about them
- Potential scenarios may include Known Traveler, Normal Traveler, and Enhanced Risk Traveler
- Does not involve profiling by race, religion, etc. Passenger information is already being used for customs and immigration
- Random element to prevent predictability
- Combining risk analysis with advanced screening technology available in 7-10 years will enable a seamless journey through screening lanes, without removing items of clothing or unpacking carry-on luggage
- Intermediate steps involve bringing intelligence to the checkpoint using passenger data, creating separate screening lanes repurposing existing equipment
- IATA and stakeholders plan to test components of the concept in an airport environment in 2012
- For more information: Checkpoint of the Future
Security Management Systems (SeMS)
- IATA’s SeMS provides airlines with a risk-based framework to create a security culture
- 240 IATA member airlines and 129 non-IATA airlines have implemented SeMS
- The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) includes SeMS
- Regulators are increasingly making SeMS part of national aviation security policy
- Bahrain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Lebanon, Madagascar, Panama, Syria and Turkey have mandated IOSA and the SeMS core elements
One-Stop Security
- One stop security promotes the concept that passengers, baggage and cargo are screened adequately at their airport of origin and do not need to be re-screened at a connecting airport
- One-Stop Security enhances passenger facilitation and reduces costly duplicated measures while maintaining security
- One-Stop Security is now operating in the EU with some exceptions, most notably the UK and Ireland
- IATA is encouraging governments to recognize each other’s measures to enable one-stop security
- To do that governments need to:
- Receive assurance of adequate screening at point of origin
- Exchange information and improve collaboration
Secure Freight
- Regulators, manufacturers and freight forwarders share responsibility with airlines for creating a secure and trusted air cargo supply chain
- IATA is working to enhance supply chain integrity with its Secure Freight program which was launched in 2008
- Secure Freight aims to secure cargo supply chains by defining, auditing, and registering secure operators that act in conformance with a quality assurance system
- IATA is developing international security accreditation standards and a security audit for supply chain operators in a similar manner to the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operators
- IATA plans to achieve regulatory recognition by working collaboratively with ICAO, which has expressed support in principle for the project
- IATA has piloted the audit with supply chain operators in 2010
- The pilot program was launched in Malaysia in November 2010
Liquids, Aerosols and Gels (LAG)
- The threat of liquid explosives is real
- IATA believes that the LAGs restrictions should be lifted but:
- Artificial political or bureaucratic timelines should not drive process
- Must be a globally coordinated effort
- echnology needs to support decisions
Cargo Security
- Response to the October 2010 attempted cargo attack led to poorly thought out short-term measures
- IATA expended extensive resources to mitigate economic and operational impact to member airlines
- IATA supports
- Supply chain security to move inspection of cargo away from the airports
- Global harmonization of cargo security measures, under ICAO leadership
- Better screening technology
- IATA’s e-freight and Secure Freight programs must be taken into account by governments
Updated December 2011
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