Of politics, airports, and change in the wind ...
In a recent discussion with Angela Gittens (page 30), head of ACI World, the topic turned to the difficulties in getting security standards in place internationally — in particular, between the U.S. and Canada, a source of frustration with our neighbors to the north.
Comments Gittens, “It’s the U.S. making those rules. The U.S. does not want to accept any variations to its custom of doing things.
“Typically what you do is you have standards; and then you test whether the entity’s processes meet the standards. Which is different from saying you have to do it exactly the way I do it. It’s not a standard, it’s a template.”
And how do we get to those standards? “That’s a political question,” she says. “Not speaking for ACI, I think that because of the sensitivities from 9/11, I think Homeland Security doesn’t think it has the authority to grant waivers. To them, there’s no downside risk for doing what they’re doing. It just inconveniences passengers; it just creates costs for which they’re not responsible. As far as they’re concerned, there’s a risk that if something goes wrong they’ll get blamed.”
Meanwhile, this issue’s cover story on LAX reflects what can happen when a community fails to have a long-term plan for its airport. In California, airports are very political, and LAX has been the subject of various DOT rates and charges investigations. Perhaps most notable was when the mayor wanted to divert revenues from LAX for city services.
Current LAWA director Gina Marie Lindsey says that LAX has deteriorated to the point that civic and business leaders are today on board to revitalize the airport. Revenue diversion isn’t an issue today; it’s investing that revenue into LAX.
Comments Lindsey, “Everybody wants to see improvement at LAX so badly that the need to keep the money focused on the airport will be much more clear going forward than it has been in the past.
“That’s part of what is welding the political will. People are getting tired of it. The mayor is getting tired of coming home to his own airport and being kind of embarrassed about it.
“So, the need for us to fix that problem, and the imperative to have money in order to fix it, is going to diminish the appetite for trying to look at revenue diversion.”
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Writing this on the evening of November 4th, one sees history being made — good history in that the message of equality that is America just rang true. President-elect Obama has convinced America that he is about change and a new direction. Once he gets to ‘the District’ he may find that change isn’t readily welcomed. First thing, he may want to give a call to Jimmy Carter, whose platform of change ran into a brick wall in D.C.
Getting a long-term aviation funding bill would be one nice change.
Thanks for reading.
