balancing security with facilitation
Leveraging the existing joint customs and immigration programme for frequent travellers between Canada and the United States, in 2010 CATSA began introducing designated screening lines for pre-approved travellers who possess a valid NEXUS card. This represents a concrete step toward risk-based screening, and a more targeted approach that allows CATSA to expend fewer resources on passengers who have already undergone a rigorous risk assessment process and have been deemed to be low-risk. Family/Special Needs lines have also been added at Canada’s major airports, staffed with Screening Officers trained to offer additional assistance to families with small children, and passengers with mobility issues. These lines are equipped with X-ray screening technology specifically designed for bigger items such as wheelchairs, strollers and car seats.
Another change at the checkpoint involves
a new re-divest procedure that has proven to be a welcome time-saver for passengers and Screening Officers alike. Those who alarm at the walk-through metal detector now have a second chance to remove metal objects, such as forgotten keys, mobile phones or coins from their pockets. Results have shown a 51 per cent decrease in the time Screening Officers spend resolving metal alarms. When given the choice, the vast majority of passengers chose to re-divest rather than be searched by hand-held metal detector or partial physical search.
These changes demonstrate that security
organisations can balance security with facilitation without compromise to either. We know from extensive research that, in Canada, passengers do not necessarily differentiate between the various organisations they encounter at the airport – be it CATSA, the airline, the airport authority, or other partners. To this end, it’s the collective responsibility of all players in the aviation industry to work collaboratively toward a more positive air travel experience for everyone. So CATSA’s new vision is anchored in the development of a more collaborative and innovative mindset with expanded efforts to reach out to and work with its partners. The overall objective is to build stronger, sustainable alliances to improve and better manage the travel process from the moment passengers book their travel to the time they pass through security screening and board the aircraft. This end-to-end approach relies heavily on strategic alliances based on shared goals: ensuring the safety and security of passengers and improving their overall air travel experience.
As a building block to this initiative,
CATSA began engaging airports and airlines in an effort to map out the process of a passenger’s entire travel experience and create a passengers’ value map. This enabled
February 2012 Aviationsecurityinternational
the organisation to identify opportunities for both itself and its partners to better target information to passengers that can help ensure a positive screening experience. CATSA is also developing a proposal to
create more formal alliances with its partners through Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs). These MOUs are based on the belief that through the sharing of information and collaborative planning, CATSA can better integrate its screening services into airports, work more closely with airport authorities and air carriers, and improve its management of security screening. Additionally, it’s important to remember that the industry is strongly influenced and driven by the rapid evolution of information, communication and transportation technologies. CATSA is working to develop innovative solutions to maximise the utilisation of new technologies that also improve its overall capacity to segment services based on the different needs of passengers. And if it contributes to a more positive passenger experience – all the better! A perfect example is CATSA’s recent deployment of full body scanners. The use of these scanners offers CATSA higher detection capabilities, while – at the same time – improving its customer service by giving an option to passengers who don’t want to be physically touched during a search. For those who do opt for a physical search, new semi- private search stalls, designed to integrate into the airport environment and improve privacy for passengers, have been installed where space permits.
New randomiser technology to randomly select passengers for secondary search is also currently in use at all pre-board screening checkpoints and all primary non-passenger screening checkpoints. This technology eliminates the inevitable human bias in random selection and ensures the process is sound. One recent new technology developed and implemented by CATSA also has potential benefits for its partners and for passengers. Its new Boarding Pass Security System (BPSS) provides enhanced security through the electronic validation of boarding passes. An added feature is its ability to gather valuable operational data such as throughput, wait times and traffic that can be used for performance measurement as well as more effective planning of service levels at the checkpoint to better match the demand from industry based on passenger traffic. Through information sharing, this data could potentially be used by airport authorities and air carriers in
planning their own resources more effectively. The ability to access wait time information
from BPSS has also shown promise as a real benefit to passengers in preparing themselves for security screening and managing their time at the airport. In fact, current wait-times at Canada’s eight largest airports are now available on CATSA’s website and are shared with those airports for posting to their own websites. Another innovation is the development of a performance dashboard for tracking key performance indicators, accessible to CATSA’s partners and suppliers. As of the end of 2011, CATSA is capturing data and tracking performance through indicators that measure its effectiveness (compliance and testing), efficiency (throughput, wait-times and deployment of screening resources) and passenger satisfaction (passenger intercept surveys). With a renewed focus on value-added services and incorporating more risk-based and innovative measures, CATSA – in collaboration with its industry partners – is determined to succeed in meeting the needs of passengers, airports, airlines and its regulator, Transport Canada. As a service provider dedicated to improving the passenger experience, it is in CATSA’s best interest to ensure that the industry remains healthy and growing, and that its customers are satisfied with their chosen method of travel. If the passenger is happy and if CATSA meets its performance targets, that means the corporation is creating value for the industry and delivering on its expected results.
It
may be a challenging task in a demanding environment, but it’s one that the organisation has anticipated, planned for and is now tackling head on. In fact, its new vision is to excel as a world leader in air transport security.
CATSA, established in 2002, is a Crown corporation regulated by Transport Canada. CATSA and Transport Canada work together in aviation security, each with very distinct mandates. CATSA screens 52 million passengers and 62 million pieces of checked baggage each year.
Yves Duguay is CATSA’s Senior Vice-President of Operations and Customer Experience. He is accountable for the security screening of
all passengers,
non-passengers and their baggage at Canada’s 89 designated airports. As CATSA’s champion for service, he is also leading the organisation’s efforts to improve the overall passenger experience while ensuring the security of the travelling public.
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