I’ve just returned from my first cruise! The only holiday I have been on in recent years that didn’t involve getting up at silly o’clock to drive to the airport and join the mile-long queue to pass through security (where almost everyone rants about why the whole process takes so long).
As the summer exodus continues and the news headlines move towards tales of flight delays (and continue with stories about rioting and policing), I’m reminded that in only a few weeks’ time we will all be recalling where we were ten years ago on Tuesday 11 September 2001.
In the aftermath of those premeditated attacks on the North and South Towers that formed the World Trade Centre, airports and airlines around the world implemented unprecedented levels of security. Now, a decade on, have those airports’ management teams improved the effectiveness of their security operations? Is air travel a safer proposition today than it was back then?
After all, there have been major security breaches since – notably the attack on Glasgow International Airport in 2007 and, more recently of course, the suicide bombing at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow last January.
Aviation and Transportation Security Act
Following 9/11, in November 2001 the US Government introduced the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, thereby creating the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Courtesy of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Department of Transport in the UK (as well as many other authorities around the world), airports and airlines have had new security regulations forced upon them. Those regulations are more stringent than ever.
Meanwhile, we as passengers have become accustomed to the necessity for getting to the airport a little earlier, removing our shoes and belts before we walk through the scanners and placing our toiletries in clear plastic bags.
It’s fair to say that the aviation industry has always been an early adopter of new innovations, and one of the most noticeable advances in airports over the past ten years has been a huge investment in new and upgraded technologies with a view to improving the prevention, detection and management of safety and security incidents. Many of these technologies have been integrated as part of major expansions some airports have necessarily witnessed in recent years.
While some of these technologies – such as the introduction of biometric readers, full-body scanners and iris recognition systems – have been well publicised in an effort to create and maintain public confidence and trust, it’s only when you go behind the scenes that you can truly appreciated the scale of any progress made.
Visit the Control Room of one of the large international airports and you will be amazed by the information that’s now being fed to operators from vast numbers of surveillance cameras (the move from analogue to IP has certainly been a huge change in the past decade), scanners, fire and smoke sensors, radio and telephony, access control and intrusion detection systems, ANPR, perimeter alarms, face recognition and video analytics (to name but a few).
Coping with the mass of data
Today’s subsequent challenge for security teams (in terms of making airports safer and more secure environments) is not focused on any lack of the correct technology infrastructure, then: it’s already in place.
Rather, the key issue is about coping with the resulting – and unrelenting – mass of data that’s being hurled at team members 24/7, 365 days a year.
And here’s the crux of the matter: being able to absorb and collate the plethora of information now available in a timely manner and use it to make the right decisions with the appropriate level of response is where the real benefits lie.
Security may be the number one priority, but shutting down a gate, terminal, runway or even the whole airport for just one hour can have huge ramifications in terms of financial costs and scheduling, not to mentioned unwanted passenger disruption.
For the security management team, then, it’s all about balancing operational efficiencies with effectiveness.
Therefore, it’s not at all surprising that, over the past few years, Situation Management solutions – otherwise known as Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) systems – have grown in popularity with the security management teams operational at large international airports.
Los Angeles International Airport: one of the pioneers
One of the most recent major airports to announce its use of such a system was Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) for its new Airport Response Co-ordination Centre.
Essentially, these systems enable the Control Room operators to make sense of all the information with which they’re being presented. The system joins the dots between all of the data feeds entering the space and presents a ‘common operating picture’ of the entire site in order to gain the best value from every camera, sensor and alarm, etc.
What’s more, the airports can translate their standard operating procedures for incident handling into consistent response plans whereby certain process steps are automated and the actions that require the skills of the operator are flagged with clear step-by-step instructions.
My prediction for the next ten years is, of course, continued advances in surveillance systems, but the focus will shift towards ensuring these technologies are used to their full potential and in a co-ordinated way that reduces the overall impact on the passenger experience.
In fact, last month it was widely reported in the national media that the current UK Secretary of State for Transport, Philip Hammond, would be unveiling plans to MPs that will encourage airports to invest in new screening devices to cut the time it takes for passengers to pass through security.
Can more be done in terms of security?
I thoroughly enjoyed my cruise, but for my next holiday I know I’ll be flying and, ultimately, the question I’ll be asking myself is: ‘Will I feel safer when I get to the airport and step onboard than I did ten years ago?’
For me, the answer has to be a resounding: ‘Yes’. Having said that, do I think that more can be done? Certainly.
As we are about to be reminded of the terrible events that took place on 9/11, it’s important to remember that, sadly, the threat level does persist.
In turn, this means we all need to take responsibility and be more vigilant (and, perhaps, a little more patient when we take our place in the queue for the security scanners).
Jamie Wilson is security marketing manager (EMEA) at NICE Systems
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