Thoughts on Security and Open Skies

Thoughts on a few recent items in the news Item 1: Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association, calls on airports worldwide to discard inefficient business practices and to stop considering airlines as their cash cows. Bisignani apparently is displeased with the fact that while his constituents, the air carriers, have been immersed in the worst five financial years in history, airports have been able to remain financially stable. Every estimate I've ever heard on airline costs puts overall airport charges to airlines at some 4 percent of their overall cost structure. Seems they ought to be more focused on the other 96 percent. Airports can operate more efficiently, to be sure, but the stability of airports says quite a bit about their resourcefulness in finding new sources of revenue at a time when airlines are on life support. In the U.S., two keys in helping them operate more efficiently include: promoting the creation of independent airport authorities; and, allowing them to react more freely to market forces without federal government approval. Item 2: The U.S. and Canada enter a much more open open skies agreement. It's about time. It's interesting that in a world undergoing globalization, the symbol that epitomizes the concept continues to be stymied by old trade barriers. Item 3: The Transportation Security Administration says it will allow items such as scissors and screwdrivers through passenger screening. The move is expected to free up screeners to focus more fully on finding the really bad stuff. The most fascinating aspect of this declaration is the reaction of the general media. They're all over it. After all, this is the type of security story that really brings home the war on terror to the average passenger. Forget the fact that their elected officials in Congress have yet to figure out how to fund the explosives detection systems needed. That's the debate that needs to be thrown at the public again and again on the nightly news channels. Thanks for reading.