ACI VIEWPOINT
Our challenge is to show airport business leadership based on the knowledge and know-how of the industry and take the lead rather than have others dictate our choices
of our business needs and limitations. Each partner would like to set the rules and tell us what to do to best serve their interests. That is why today we stand at a crossroads, a critical turning point
in airport business management where we must choose to lead or to follow. We can’t chart a course from the back seat. Speaking out is not necessarily enough. Many critical issues have been tabled in global discussions, and we
can seize the opportunity to turn those viewpoints into action, taking ownership to achieve the positive results airports seek. Our challenge is to show airport business leadership based on the knowledge and know-how of the industry and take the lead rather than have others dictate our choices. Safety and security, two of our top priorities, exemplify this situation.
Safety Safety has long been the number one priority of all stakeholders in the civil aviation industry. For ACI, the plethora of activities related to safety testify to this fact – the production of guidance manuals, participation in ICAO safety panels and working groups, our observer status on the ICAO Air Navigation Commission, the training activities undertaken by ACI Global Training, particularly the Global Safety Network, and our support of the ACI Fund. We were a major contributor in the Flight Safety Foundation work on
reducing runway incursions and excursions, which resulted in a seminal root causes analysis and guidebook. We know, based on data from ICAO’s Universal Safety Oversight
Audit Program, correlated with traffic data for areas showing the most potential for traffic growth, that vulnerabilities exist for more aerodrome incidents and accidents to occur as traffic grows, even as the rate of incidents and accidents continues to decrease. At the Bermuda Assembly, ACI will propose a new global safety
strategy, drawing on best practices and enhancing our regional efforts to meet the ICAO standards. We can take the lead to address this important issue and not await instructions or rulings from oversight bodies. We know the ICAO guidelines, we participated in creating them, and we can put in place the supporting structures as of today, so, to borrow from the Nike tagline, we need to ‘just do it’. The implementation of safety management systems at airports worldwide is an important objective, and we can put in place a network of assistance and guidance to help carry out that ambition.
Security We are at an important juncture in the area of security as well. We continue to fight for consistent global standards and harmonisation
of security measures. Yet we see a need for the current worldwide approach to change. The industry must not fight yesterday’s battle with more layers of restrictive measures; we need a risk based approach that is better suited to the ever changing threat. At the same time, airports need to address gaps identified by the
ICAO security audits, where only about 60% of airports are in compliance with Annex 17 standard. These gaps are not new, and the December ‘underpants’ bomber incident showed that a security deficiency in country A can move to country B, and on to country C in a matter of hours. By definition, security is a global issue and we need to work together to plug the gaps. To jump-start a more proactive role, ACI is hosting the ICAO
workshop on next generation security, at the end of November in Geneva. It will be a ‘development workshop’ with AVSEC and Facilitation panels will look at processes, and we will be joined by IATA. We now have momentum going and will need airport involvement to build a strong voice. We must also prevail against a patchwork of conflicting
national security policies. In the European Union, plans to lift restriction on carry-on liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) for the convenience of EU-origin passengers, will create hardships on EU airports and create confusion, confiscations and decreased revenue beyond EU boundaries. ACI World and ACI Europe are co-ordinating efforts to voice the
airport view on this politically sensitive issue to avert well-intentioned action that ignores logistical realities. Yet another road to raising security levels is through
enhanced regional collaboration. Five regional ministerial conferences, sponsored by ICAO and supported by the United States Homeland Security department, were held in the past 12 months. Each produced a declaration that manifests a ground swell of political will to work together and drive forward implementation of ICAO standards. The seeds for this collaboration have thus been planted, but now
the work needs to be advanced and nurtured. The airport sector will be an active participant in this regionally-based strategy. Charting the course implies sustained efforts for improving
performance excellence on the global stage. The opportunities for leadership are manifest, not only in safety and security, but also in the areas of environment, economics, health, information technology, and collaborative decision making with our industry partners. We can show our resolve and make the commitment to give of our
time and energy to confront the challenges that we face to build a sustainable future for airport business.
AIRPORT WORLD/OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010 AW 21
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