Some will claim that theft and/or smuggling is a ramp issue, pay issue or perhaps even an “outsourcing issue.” However, ramp “shopping” and smuggling is certainly not a new phenomenon. What is new and the main difference; pre-9/11 as opposed to post-9/11, which precipitated stringent security measures, TSA, Homeland Security and now the new, Bill H.R. 1690: “To improve airport screening and security,” which was just referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security March 26th.
The NATA Airline Services Council will be meeting April 24th in Washington DC to review potential solutions to the ongoing concern of airport employee screening. According to the ASC, the airline services industry recognizes the need to provide the highest level of security at America’s commercial airports. They also acknowledge the fact that every airport is unique and blanket screening at all commercial airports may not be the most effective method by which to improve security. The meeting will bring together airline services industry experts to identify a list of recommendations that may be more effective in tackling improved security while recognizing the uniqueness of each commercial airport. There are no easy solutions, but to be certain, changes in employee screening will be made and we will continue to report on them.
Thank you for reading,
