Aviation security still has its issues

The 5th annual Aviation Business Airport & Aviation Security Summit was held in Sydney this week.

Amongst the high-profile speakers at the event were Paul Retter (executive director of the Office of Transport Security), Mark Everitt (CEO of the Aviation Security Service of New Zealand), Geoff Askew (former head of security at Qantas) and a senior representative from ASIO.

Industry participants included Gary Bowden (head of security at Virgin Blue), Kim Ellis (CEO Sydney Metro Airport), Paul Tyrell (CEO of the RAA), Graham Giddey (aviation services manager Newcastle Airport), David Blackwell (director Rockhampton Airport) and Justin Giddings (operations manager Avalon Airport).

International contributions came from representatives of the TSA, the UK Department of Transport and other security organizations.

The general consensus was that our aviation security regime is pretty good, but by no means brilliant.

And funding issues were the principal focus of the Summit, with opinion ranging from full funding from government (as a matter of national security) to various mixes of private/public.

Another area of widespread concern was the quality (and quality of training) of the security personnel at the ‘coal face’ in airports.

Paul Retter pointed out that the economic consequences of a major incident in this country could easily be A$30 billion dollars over the ensuing two years.

The ASIO representative said that “the threat of terrorism globally and to Australia and Australians is real and enduring”. In fact, Australia is listed as number 4 on the target list.

Geoff Askew told the delegates that it is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ with regard to an attack in Australia. He also shared statistics which showed that the most cost-effective security measure in relation to aircraft has been hardened cockpit doors and that other measures such as the carrying of air marshals have not provided such a good return on investment.

Virgin Blue’s Gary Bowden reported that there had been almost 500 laser illumination of cockpits incidents in Australia over three years, but that the frequency of such incidents was declining.

International guest Malcolm Nance (director International Anti-terrorism Center for Excellence, NY) said that an attack on the aviation industry in this country will most likely be carried out by someone travelling with a US or UK passport.

Mark Everitt said that he sees a single aviation border between Australia and New Zealand as unlikely, but that there will be “simplifications”.

These are just a few of details from what was an extraordinarily comprehensive analysis of the status of aviation security in this country, delivered by the people at the very heart of the sector.

There was a lot that was disturbing, often in terms of the resourcefulness and commitment at the threat source. The counterbalance was provided by the obvious dedication and determination of our aviation security regulators and industry professionals.