Globally applied aviation security is an obvious need and the industry will be judged by passengers on its resolution in providing it
Setting up a truly global aviation security system is going to be a formidable task, but the International Civil Aviation Organisation and its member states must not be daunted by it.
ICAO's first task is to raise $15 million in voluntary contributions from member states and airlines, to set up the aviation security action plan (ASAP) which has just been approved. This will be a good first test of whether the world is prepared to put its money where its mouth is. Those who would use aviation as a means to further political or other aims will be watching with interest to see just how resolute the aviation industry is prepared to be.
The central plank of the ASAP is a universal mandatory aviation security system audit programme. To set this up, ICAO has to depend on member states with security expertise and resources to provide ICAO with the people who can form the core training staff and the first of the multi-national audit task forces.
So much for the basic resources. In addition to that, the operating mode for the audit teams has to be defined in fine detail, and the system for licensing the inspectors must be determined and approved.
The ASAP is not the only monitoring system planned for checking the quality of security provided at airports and in airlines around the world. The basic tool will be a new aviation security quality control system, with defined standards and "proficiency indicators". ICAO has yet to define this system, although there should be no shortage of expertise in this field because a number of countries already have their own quality control systems. But in the end, it will be these standards and operating practices that will be judged by the multi-national audit teams when they arrive to check out the security proficiency of individual nations.
There is no need to persuade a country like the USA that it needs a good aviation security system to manage both domestic and inbound international flights. It is a wealthy country for which air travel is an imbedded part of its citizens' lifestyle and its corporate needs. But the real motivation comes from the fact that its airlines are more likely to be the targets for groups with a political axe to grind than those of any other nation except Israel. That is the downside, in today's imperfect world, of being powerful, wealthy, influential, and prepared to stand up for one's beliefs. Other nations with the same characteristics, if lesser in degree, also face a risk of violent action against their airlines, so they also have the motivation and the means to act.
But the international air transport system is a web, and included in it are economically poor countries that have a far weaker motive for setting up effective aviation security procedures. Their airlines are far less likely to be targeted by terrorists - unless they are at war - and spending money on providing aviation security will undoubtedly be low on the social priorities list for an impoverished government.
ICAO, at its ministerial aviation security conference, has recognised this problem, and the need to help poor countries, by providing training for security system administrators and workers. The organisation insists that it will provide training, not money. Being realistic, in some of the poorest nations, equipment will have to be provided if the ASAP is to become effective quickly.
ICAO's ministerial-level meeting early last week was only the start, but so far only the USA and Canada have pledged any money to fund the ASAP. The industry is badly positioned right now to be able to meet yet more demands for security investment beyond the accepted cost of crew training and onboard security equipment. But nevertheless, the airlines cannot assume that the $15 million needed will all come from state budgets. There are many airlines, and their success partly depends on the passenger confidence that good security will help to generate.
The ASAP is an essential project. Either aviation security is practised globally or it is full of holes. It will never be perfect, but ICAO's job is to lead the industry into making aviation a difficult target so as to persuade terrorists or groups who want publicity for their cause to go elsewhere. While ICAO, with the support of its member states, gets on with that vital task, the world must continue to back the US-led attempt to improve international intelligence on fundamentalist political or terrorist groups, because controlling the source of the problem is the ideal. But however good intelligence is, it will fail sometimes, and industry security is the only safety net that the airlines have.
Source: Flight International
