IATA Annual Review 2012

FEATURE
Do I need to take my shoes off?
There is little doubt that air
transport is far more secure
following the tragic events of
9/11. Still, from a passenger
viewpoint, the security process
has too often become intrusive,
intimidating, and inconsistent.
Long lines, pat downs, and
constant packing and unpacking
blight many a journey. From
processing an average of 350
passengers per hour prior to
9/11, security checkpoints
have slowed to a throughput of
just 149 passengers per hour.
Given that traffic numbers are
growing—2.8 billion people
took to the skies in 2011—the
problem will only worsen.
The slowdown is unnecessary
and partly a result of
the patchwork approach to
security by governments. IATA’s
Checkpoint of the Future (CoF)
looks to resolve these issues
while strengthening the global
security system. It is a riskbased,
data-driven concept
that will differentiate screening
through the analysis of passenger
information. Resources can
then be focused where the risk
is greatest.
The principles behind this idea
have been widely welcomed.
They have been endorsed by
the European Commission, the
Chinese government, and the
US Department of Homeland
Security (DHS). And Interpol
and 16 countries have signed a
statement of principles for nextgeneration
screening.
Acceptance, however, is the
easy part. The challenge ahead
is to implement these ideas and
principles before security lines
become even more onerous.
Technically, a lot has already
been achieved. X-ray scanners,
for example, are constantly
being improved, and other
detection methods have come
into force. Moreover, innovation
and competition in the market
are fast giving rise to technology
that will perform to high
standards on moving passengers.
Two components will be
tested by the end of 2012, and
a first version of the CoF should
be operational by the end of
2014.
The complete technology suite
is still a few years away, but risk
assessment using passenger
data is a step that is already
being implemented in some
countries. The big question
is how to correctly use and
harmonize this data around the
world. As such, emphasis is
being placed on how existing
Known Traveler programs
can be leveraged. There are
a number of such programs
in the world, such as the US
DHS’s Global Entry, with most
focused on expediting customs
and immigration clearance. The
US Transportation Security
Administration’s PreCheck
24
Average hourly throughput at airport
passenger security checkpoints
avg.
350
Pre-9/11 Post-9/11
and Canada’s Nexus are the
only two programs designed to
facilitate a smoother security
checkpoint process.
best
250
Perhaps more important than
where programs are in place
to collect data is how the data
from those programs is being
used and what, specifically,
constitutes a data set. An ICAO
Technical Advisory Group,
comprising 19 states and industry
partners, met to discuss
this issue and many others in
late 2011. The follow-up to
avg.
149
worst
60
this meeting is ongoing. Global
harmonization—achieved
through the mutual recognition
of multiple programs rather than
through a single scheme—is
possible only if consistent
data set parameters and risk
assessment methodologies are
applied.