AVIATION SECURITY: CURRENT NEEDS
by
Col. (Retd.) A.S. Bedi, General Manager (Security & Ops.), Jet Airways, Mumbai.

1)  It is not presumptuous to state that under the metamorphic effect generated by the events of September 11, we all do recognise the unprecedented increase in security concerns. And while we search for contending and preventive solutions, TERRORISM, today is being widely accepted as a 'GLOBAL PHENOMENON'. It's just the intensity that varies from region to region. Possibly, the world has come alive to what the Indian Sub-continent had faced for several years.

2)  In the prevailing high threat environment, Aviation continues to be an extremely 'SOFT and LUCRATIVE' target. A strike against Aviation is very high on the Terrorist's preference list, because of the quick 'pay off' it provides in terms of bargaining power, publicity and media gaze - And most importantly the 'devastating economic fall out' it can inflict on the victim state.

3)  But historically, 'aviation security' has been a patch work of programmes knitted together in a reactive mode to external events. The approach, so far, had not been pro-active, e,g.,

1. Way back in 1968, USA had series of hijacks - 69 commercial flights hijacked to Cuba. And this criminal act led to the necessity of enforcing anti-hijack measures like use of x-ray screeners for cabin baggage.

2. Similarly, the bombing of PANAM 103 over Lockerbie and the Air India Kanishka crash (1985), led to the requirement of screening of Registered baggage and Pax Reconciliation procedure.

3. Back home, in the wake of the hijack of IC 814 in December 1999, we saw the emergence of another layer of anti-hijacking measures in the form of secondary security checks.

4)  Against this back drop of security concerns, airlines are flying to numerous destinations, cutting across the entire global geographical spread, amidst varying degrees of threat and passenger profiles. It is in this maize of heavy activity that we have to evolve a methodology to establish a credible security system to sustain safe and secure operations. This methodology has to be based on :-

a) Threat Visualisation
    (i) Conventional Threats
    (ii) Paradigm Shift In Execution of Terrorist Threats
    (iii) Character of A Modern Day Terrorist

b) Approach to Emerging Threats
   (i) Aviation Security to be an Integral part of National Security
   (ii) Evolution of a Good Intelligence Network
   (iii) Integrated Security effort to achieve high deterrence levels
         (Surveillance - Alarm - Response)

c) Evolution of Philosophy
   (i) Good Selection of Personnel for Security Duties
   (ii) Intensive Training
   (iii) Monitoring and Audits
   (iv) Use of Technology for High Efficiency Levels
   (v)  Dynamic Compatibility
   (vi) Consistency and Harmony
   (vii) Pax Comfort

a) Current Trends
   (i) Strengthening of Cockpit Doors
   (ii) Reliance of Sky Marshals
   (iii) Ingenuity in Audits
   (iv) Emphasis on Profiling
   (v) Selection and Training of Staff