AARON KARP / WASHINGTON DC
There is a difference developing between the USA and the rest of the world on how to respond effectively to the terrorism threat. It may not be evident yet but, when the dust settles and all the new resolutions that are being incubated at ICAO, the European Civil Aviation Conference and in Asia and Africa are finally put into practice, there is a danger that the US security system will not be in harmony with the "global" one.
When the US Congress passed legislation last autumn putting the federal government in charge of aviation security, the move won praise from the US public - and even from US airlines and airports. After the 11 September terrorist attacks, carriers no longer wanted to be in the business of screening passengers and baggage and were more than happy to hand over the responsibility.
But eight months later, airlines and airports are loudly complaining that the federal agency taking over air transport security in the USA is implementing initiatives that only superficially enhance security, while impeding the business of commercial aviation.
Many within the US airline and airport industries fear the situation could grow far worse as the government struggles to comply with ambitious and logistically difficult year-end deadlines for screening passengers and checked baggage.
At the heart of the problem, say critics, is the aviation security legislation that was hastily written by lawmakers under intense political pressure last November. Following 11 September, debate raged within Congress over how to fix security shortcomings at US airports. Various factions argued over a number of proposals, but little could be agreed upon other than that major change was needed.
Another disaster
On 12 November, with still nothing settled, American Airlines flight 587 went down in a New York residential neighbourhood. Although no evidence of terrorism was found in the Airbus A300-600R crash, another airliner disaster in the USA cast harsh light on the fact that Congress had still done nothing to reform aviation security in the two months since the 11 September hijackings.
With members of Congress just days away from leaving Washington DC for their traditional Thanksgiving holiday recess, it became readily apparent that it would be political suicide for legislators to leave town without addressing aviation security. In just three days, comprehensive legislation that revamped the USA's air transport security apparatus was drafted and agreed.
Congressional lawyers worked around the clock, staying up through the night to write a bill creating a new federal agency, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which was given control of all components of aviation security and presented with a series of deadlines to meet this year.
The most notable of these are the requirements to staff all passenger checkpoints at 429 US airports with federal screeners by 19 November and to scan all checked baggage for explosives by 31 December.
Hard-nosed management
The US Department of Transportation (DoT) established the TSA on 1 January and recruited former US Secret Service head John Magaw to direct the agency. Magaw has staffed TSA management with hard-nosed law enforcement officials and vowed to meet all congressionally mandated deadlines.
Critics say this has created within the TSA what the UK Air Transport Association (ATA) calls a "check-the-box" mentality in which the agency is blindly endeavouring to meet all deadlines, no matter how impractical or poorly thought through the mandates are.
They also complain that the TSA is completely lacking in either commercial or aviation expertise and has made little effort to solicit the opinions of airlines and airports.
American Airlines senior vice-president of government affairs Will Ris says: "It really is that the task [the TSA] has before it is monumental and almost impossible." He adds that the law passed by the Congress gives the TSA "difficult timetables" on meeting mandates and "contradicting" directives.
Ris says that the law was written in an "intentionally ambiguous way" so that Congress could pass it quickly. "If you talk to the people who wrote the law, you get different answers from different people [as to what various provisions mean]," he adds. "We need to get rid of some of these regulations to lower the hassle factor. There's no consistency in what's being implemented."
The ATA, which lobbies on behalf of US majors, is pushing the TSA to revisit the feasibility of some of the congressional directives. "The TSA is an agency that's growing rapidly beyond its means," says ATA. "It needs to assess the various legislative requirements it was given and respond to Congress and the public with their candid views as to what can be done and what can't."
What can not be done, many believe, is screening 100% of checked luggage for explosives by 31 December in a way that will allow for the viable operation of commercial aviation in the USA. The TSA has developed a plan to install 1,100 explosive detection system (EDS) machines in airports, to be used in conjunction with 4,700 explosive trace detection (ETD) devices to meet the deadline. US transportation secretary Norman Mineta is referring to the strategy as "a multi-layer system of systems approach".
Hand searches
US FAA deputy administrator Monte Belger has described the EDS machines - produced by InVision Technologies and L-3 Communications - that will be installed in airports as being "as big as a pick-up truck". The machines also have a 25% to 30% false-positive rate, meaning that as many as three out of 10 checked bags will have to be removed from the machines and painstakingly searched by hand.
Boeing has been awarded a $508 million contract to install the EDS and ETD machines and to train more than 21,000 people to operate the equipment.
Airlines, airports and other industry observers fear the TSA's plan amounts to a rushed interim solution that will lead to unbearably long passenger queues in airports. A recent letter co-signed by 39 directors of airports - whose facilities collectively handled over 60% of the passenger throughput in the USA last year - warned Mineta that the TSA's planned attempt to meet the 31 December deadline despite serious logistical hurdles is "less than optimal" and could lead to high levels of congestion at airports.
"We cannot make the significant terminal modifications that will be necessary to accommodate the necessary machines and manpower by the 31 December deadline," wrote the airport officials. "In contrast to a more thoughtful and integrated system, we do not favour hurried installations of EDS machines - even at those few places where any space is available - that promise to disrupt passenger flows and further increase the hassle of air travel."
The airport managers "strongly encourage" Mineta to seek "some form of legislative relief from the impending baggage screening deadline".
Immovable deadlines
He did not respond to the letter, but during a speech addressed comments "directly to our partners in the aviation community" - a clear reference to the airport managers and others in the industry, who have questioned the feasibility of the deadline - saying: "Just recently, some in the transportation community have voiced support for rolling back these deadlines as a way to help us meet them. Quite simply, the law is the law and the Congress was quite specific. But, law or no law, we simply cannot afford not to meet those critical milestones as quickly as possible."
The airport directors say that it is unlikely the TSA will be able to hire and train enough people to operate the EDS and ETD equipment by the end of the year, adding: "Of course, if the TSA is unable to meet these intensive manpower requirements, then the result will be an unacceptable level of passenger service further jeopardising the perilous state of the aviation industry."
Frustrating mindset
Ron Steinert, a vice-president with Gensler Architecture, Design & Planning Worldwide, has been working with 15 major US airports, including Los Angeles Airport (LAX), to plan for the redesign and adjustments necessary to meet the 31 December deadline. He says airports have grown highly frustrated in their dealings with the TSA, which features a senior management team with a decidedly law enforcement mindset.
"These people [TSA] don't think airports know anything," says Steinert. "They think they know better, so they tell airports to get out of the way. The airports are saying, 'You know how to put people into jail, but you don't know how to manage an airport'. TSA has not embraced the aviation industry as colleagues in this and until they do, it will never really work."
He adds that both the TSA and Congress seem intent on meeting the 31 December deadline despite the many objections from the aviation industry: "The federal government will comply with the law. They're not going to back down. [Congress] put their foot in their mouth and now they're going to swallow it whole. They didn't really have time to understand the impact of their words. They haven't seen hassle yet. Just wait."
Manning checkpoints at 429 US airports with federal screeners by 19 November is also likely to be challenging. Only Baltimore/Washington Airport has federal screeners in place. The TSA now says upwards of 70,000 federal screeners will be needed, more than double original estimates made when TSA first began operations. This will require the agency to hire more than 4,000 screeners per week to meet the 19 November deadline.
Missing screeners
The ATA worries that the TSA will not be able to hire enough of them in time and will be forced to shut down some security checkpoint lanes to meet the requirements of the law, slowing passenger processing at the beginning of the USA's busy holiday travel season. Airports worry that the scores of screeners will require locker rooms, break areas, offices and so on, and do not know where the space or funding will be found by 19 November to build such facilities.
But TSA chief Magaw, testifying before Congress last month, reiterated his intention to meet all congressional deadlines: "As secretary Mineta has stated, we consider the law's tight deadlines as promises made to the American people and we will do everything humanly possible to keep these promises. Secretary Mineta has given those of us in the DoT [the US Department of Transportation] a simple mandate with regard to these deadlines: let's figure out how to meet them, because they are not negotiable."
Airlines fear the extended check-in time that may be required following the 19 November and 31 December deadlines will continue to drive hassle-wary passengers away, especially short-haul travellers.
"One of the biggest challenges for us going forward is the TSA," says Northwest Airlines chief executive Richard Anderson. "Network carriers rely on convenience and efficiency. The TSA has put an enormous amount of variation and a lot of friction in the [security] process. I would have to give the TSA very low grades."
Source: Flight International
