The Final Word
A Personal View
expressed by Matthew Finn
“
...regulation needs to focus on results, not on
transparent plastic bags...”
Let’s face it, today’s air travel experience is far data pertaining to passenger attributes is used So the next time we cross the landside/
from ideal. Many aviation security processes in a reasonable, proportionate and ethical airside border and proceed to the security
are inefficient, ineffective, or both. The security manner. Perhaps much of this debate is as checkpoint, instead of simply showing our
check, especially, needs a reality check. much about terminology as it is about the actual travel document and boarding pass to the
There must have been sound reasoning for practice of trying to identify and mitigate risks. agent sitting under the sign that reads
us to be required to take off our shoes, remove Personally, I prefer the term “differentiated “Ticketed Passengers Only Beyond This
our laptops from their bags and place liquids screening” as this highlights the need to Point”, we should put our passport or ID
and gels in 100ml containers inside a 1-litre re- differentiate between potentially high-risk card into a reader that retrieves the
sealable transparent plastic bag, but we really passengers and those deemed, by way of an corresponding API and PNR data, counts
need to ask ourselves: what threats are we intelligence-based risk assessment, low-risk. the passenger out of the landside area,
attempting to counter and how effective are So, how can this be done, how long will it take runs a rules-based risk assessment on the
the current responses? to deploy and how much will it cost? data retrieved and determines which type of
Perhaps the real question should be: how To enable an intelligence-based risk screening the passenger will be subjected
can we measurably and meaningfully enhance assessment at the security checkpoint, to based on the perceived threat level.
aviation security while simplifying passenger passenger data is required. Ironically, the From a facilitation perspective, this thinking
travel for the vast majority of the two billion majority of the data needed is already available can be extended to assisting passengers
well-intentioned passengers who will travel and in use by a variety of other stakeholders at travelling with young infants and/or those
through our airports and cross our borders this the airport – it’s just not available or being passengers with reduced mobility, by directing
year? In asking this question, we would also used at the security checkpoint. them to a checkpoint specifically configured to
serve our industry considerably better in In terms of time-to-deploy, we should be better accommodate their needs. It can also
recognising the fundamental importance and thinking in weeks and months, not years and be used to bring to the front of the queue those
vital role of the front-line staff whose job decades. And in terms of costs, these can not passengers who are running behind schedule.
dimensions have become limited to operating only be kept to an absolute minimum, but any And, from a security perspective, if a passenger
magnetometers, passing plastic trays from one costs borne should be seen as investments for is identified as a “person of interest”, then
end of a conveyor belt to another, watching which there will be a number of returns. s/he can be directed to a dedicated security
computer screens and reminding passengers Passengers standing in their socks waiting to lane with more stringent checks (or be directed
to make sure they haven’t left any metal go through a metal detector are not spending straight to a secondary inspection area) where
objects in their pockets. money on airport services. And if they’re staff have been trained in a variety of
If the security checkpoint really is one of the standing there too long, the aircraft they were techniques to properly assess the risk and
last lines of defence, surely we should be hoping to board may well be delayed, costing respond accordingly.
working more intelligently to identify, prevent the airline money and causing an operational And none of this thinking need be diluted or
and counter all threats posed to the security of headache for the airport operator. And queues confused by the promise of epassports,
the aircraft and its passengers and ensure that of large numbers of passengers could easily be biometric smart cards, or automated
we are doing all that can be done to prevent an just as much of a target for terrorist activity as clearance systems: biographic and biometric
act of unlawful interference? At the same time, the aircraft itself. In short, nobody likes a data need to be used together in order to
we can integrate the security checkpoint queue and nobody benefits from standing in properly effect intelligence-based risk-
process with other related processes to line waiting to be reunited with their toothpaste assessments – whether that be for border
facilitate passenger throughput, support and moisturising lotion. control or for the security checkpoint.
outbound border control from both a customs If we consider that governments all around The security check really does need a reality
and immigration perspective, and, in so doing, the world are increasingly mandating the check. Regulation needs to focus on results,
deliver a range of benefits to all stakeholders, provision of Advance Passenger Information not on transparent plastic bags. And
including, of course, the passenger. (API) and a growing number are now also responses need to be smart, adaptable and
Much has been written about “passenger demanding access to [or the provision of] designed to provide a differentiated passenger-
profiling” and many disparate views have been Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, we will screening environment that identifies risks, not
put forward as to why such practices might be understand that this data is obviously key to tweezers and toothpaste.
considered unacceptable. There is clearly an the identity management and risk
important privacy dimension that needs to be assessment needs of governments
taken into consideration and a need for departments – particularly security, Matthew Finn is Managing Director of
stringent checks and balances to ensure that immigration and customs agencies. Augmentiq
40 Register now for FREE instant access to ASI online by visiting
www.asi-mag.com April 2009 Aviationsecurityinternational
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