“WE MUST RISE TO THE SECURITY CHALLENGE” – IATA’s JEANNIOT

“A critical part of the industry’s recovery - and it will recover – is a renewed high level of public confidence in security,” said IATA Director General & CEO Pierre J. Jeanniot, at the opening of IATA’s AVSEC 2001 Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia, 17 October.

“Security is today front and centre,” continued Jeanniot. “The spotlight is on us, under conditions we would never have wished upon ourselves. We are facing perhaps our greatest challenge and we need to rise to the occasion. This will require rigour, imagination and determination in the application of security measures which are both reassuring and effective.”

“Governments, industry security experts, airlines, airports, equipment suppliers, systems providers, are all certainly in the front line. But in the battle against terrorism, none of us are on the side lines.”

The Director General went on to identify four lines of defence against terrorism – of which the first and most important was the best possible shared international criminal intelligence. Other lines of defence included the potential for increased use of biometrics for everyone who comes in contact with an aircraft, or the airside of an airport.

IATA has been actively advocating the use of biometrics for the past two years.

“It is a question of making intelligent use of resources,” said Jeanniot. “In the new security environment, biometrics can quickly identify the people who do not represent a security risk. So today’s more conventional security resources, augmented by new scanning technology and operators trained to new levels of stringency, can then be redirected to thoroughly checking those who have not been positively cleared and could potentially represent a risk.”