Shaping the future of airport security

IATA seeks new security paradigm as it spearheads smarter and faster ‘Checkpoint’ initiative with multichannel security tunnel combining technology with intelligence using passenger data to nab bad people and not just bad objects as opposed to “one size fits all” measures

Post 9/11, security at airports globally has been a nightmare. Frequent travellers continue to face significant inconvenience whilst first time travellers get put off by the multitude of procedures. Some of the recent measures such as the full body scanners have angered travellers in addition to lobby groups staging massive protests.

After a slump in 2009, global air travel is taking an upturn in 2010 with forecast to grow rapidly onto the future. There will be 2.5 billion passengers in 2011, up by 120 million in 2010 whilst by 2014 3.2 billion people will travel, 800 million more than the 2.4 billion flying today. Of that 800 million, 360 million will travel within Asia Pacific. Long term outlook is that 16 billion passengers will fly by 2050.

Given this future growth aviation and travel authorities are finding better and smarter ways to make security a painless but at the same time more effective.  The International Air Transport Association (IATA) whose members include over 200 airlines accounting for 93% of all scheduled international air traffic recently in Geneva unveiled to global media a unique initiative called “Checkpoint”.

“Security is a constant challenge and the system must improve,” IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani told journalists at the special annual briefing. “In general, aviation security evolved by adding one measure on top of another with little attention to how it all works together,” he added.

He said that developing a “checkpoint of the future” is at the top of everybody’s agenda. “With today’s terror threats we need to be able to find bad people, not just bad objects. We can only do that by combining technology with intelligence. This will allow us to assess passengers for risk with appropriate security checks to follow,” Giovanni explained.

IATA’s future vision is to develop a security tunnel where passengers will identify themselves with a fingerprint, biometric passport or mobile phone boarding pass. As they stroll through a tunnel, they will be checked for all items without unpacking. Thereafter they will emerge with immigration clearance and ready to board the plane simply by giving their fingerprint again.

IATA’s Director Security and Travel Facilitation Kenneth Dunlap emphasised that there was a need for a new concept in passenger security screening that ensures enhanced security and more efficient throughput. “Today’s global screening paradigm tends to be ‘one size fits all’,” he said adding “elevated risk passengers use the same lanes as the frequent fliers which use the same lanes as everyone else. “

According to him existing paradigm has created long lines, inconvenienced passengers and generally not resulted in higher detection levels of threatening objects. Furthermore passenger data is not used to make intelligent screening decisions.

Given the high growth in future travel in regions such as China and India there is a question whether existing measures can handle the job processing unprecedented numbers.  As more people take to flying evidence shows that the throughput of today’s checks is decreasing whilst the screening systems are showing its age.

Dunlap also said that passengers are increasingly more vocal about the inconvenience of security measures with social media sites triggering online protests. For example passenger rights groups called for a US national opt out of body scanning on November 24th whilst German and US passengers have begun to protest in airports over the intrusiveness of security screening technology.

“We have good systems and the flying public is safe but we also need a confident public who trusts the authorities. Good systems combined with distrustful passengers make for a toxic combination and a less secure system,” he added.

“We think that future lies in a new paradigm that looks for bad people and not just bad objects,” Dunlap said echoing IATA chief’s comments. “A dynamic aviation industry needs to maintain the confidence of a sophisticated travelling public and the signs of discontent are growing,” Dunlap added.

He also said that new technology has a role in security screening but it can be put to best use in a redesigned checkpoint system.  “You just can’t put a new radio in a car and claim that you have a new car. What you have is an old car with a new radio,” he quipped adding body scanners don’t fit the current 40 year old checkpoint paradigm.

He opined that they are too slow to use as a primary screening systems and should be left for secondary screening.

“IATA believes there is a better way to screen passengers than exclusively relying on “object finding” as we have for 40 years. We believe that there should be a next generation checkpoint that focuses on looking for “bad people” and not just “bad things.” If we have learned anything from the last decade, it is that a passenger with toe nail clippers is not automatically a threat to aviation. Or, conversely finding toenail clippers doesn’t mean you have found a terrorist,” Dunlap pointed out.

For the benefit of global media present including the Daily FT, IATA provided some context and illustrations of its vision of a future checkpoint.

IATA’s new paradigm envisions creating a total security picture of the traveller and not just a naked one!

The picture consists of physical screening (at the airport), combined with electronic data pre-screening (by governments before flight). Varying ratios of each can be used to create the “picture” and there will be two obvious outcomes when that picture is analysed first either a “board/no board” decision is made

But a third outcome represents the advance and what IATA believes is the future and passengers can be differentiated at the checkpoint and directed to different lanes for example Known traveller/regular/enhanced security lanes.

Screeners can employ advanced behaviour detection through intelligent questioning of passengers based on information, and Dunlap said this mode of checkpoint should look somewhat familiar as some of this same of processing occurs every day at customs and immigration inspection areas at every airport in the world.

IATA also envisions an interruption free passenger transit from curb to aircraft. Combining biometrics, stand-off screening, and passenger data, travellers should walk uninterrupted through a “tunnel of technology” where security and customs processing occurs in a transparent manner

Dunlap said IATA has developed blueprints and a roadmap for the way forward and IATA Board of Governors have agreed to move forward.

“We are working with like-minded associations, manufacturers, academics, and airlines to refine this concept. This needs to be a global effort. To date, we have endorsement from International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) of the need for a global effort to study a future checkpoint. We’ve shared our concepts with states and are encouraged that we have support to test components with them. As we work toward this new checkpoint and wait for some of the needed technologies to mature, we are pursuing intermediate steps,” Dunlap said.

According to him one of these steps is to repurpose and reintegrate existing technology into an intermediate checkpoint that is possible in the next 2-3 years.

This reworked checkpoint uses existing hardware and integrates several central elements of checkpoint of the future including passenger data, behaviour analysis, and the creation of new screening lanes.

“IATA is committed to making air travel safe, secure, and more enjoyable. We believe new passenger checkpoint paradigm is mandatory and needs to be brought to airports at an accelerated pace. We won’t settle for anything less than a revolution in the way passengers are treated at the airport,” Dunlap added.