IATA calls for fewer pat downs, more technology
GENEVA – IATA’s director general Giovanni Bisignani has written to the United States Department of Homeland Security urging that long-term solutions for aviation security “must include improved technology and effective risk assessment techniquesâ€.
The latter follows the Christmas Day attempt by a 23-year-old Nigerian man to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
Bisignani noted the need for short-term temporary and extra-ordinary security measures until the immediate threat of further incidents has abated.
But he cautioned, “IATA is recommending a smaller percentage of intensive pat downs accompanied by technologies or proportionate screening procedures as a means to achieve near-term security requirements with reduced delays.”
IATA said the failed Detroit terror plot emphasised two key realities: the global nature of the threat and the need for effective cooperation and information sharing among and within intelligence organisations.
“Effective security needs a system that is built on global harmonisation, effective information exchange, industry/government cooperation, risk assessment and efficient technology.
“This is how we made flying the safest way to travel. We must take the same approach with security,†said Bisignani.
Following the Northwest Airlines incident, US authorities introduced several extra security measures, including a requirement that no passenger would be able to leave his or her seat to visit the bathroom during the final hour of flight. This measure was later rescinded.
Meanwhile, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport will begin using scanners — which “see†through clothing — within three weeks to check people travelling to the United States, after consultations with US authorities, the Dutch interior minister said.
In other news, IATA reported international scheduled passenger demand was up by 2.1% in November this year compared to November 2008.
Passenger demand is 6.4% better than the low point reached in the first quarter of 2009, but still 6% below the peak levels seen in early 2008.
Comparing to October (and adjusting for seasonality), passenger demand in November actually fell by 0.7%, primarily due to continued weakness in North America and Europe.
Ian Jarrett
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